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A  UTHOR : 


WHITMAN,  SIDNEY 


TITLE: 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY 


PLACE: 


LONDON 


DA  TE : 


1889 


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PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 

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'•»*»*«im<. 


943.01 
V,'59 

Whitman,  Sidney. 

Inipeiial  CJeiiuauy;  a  critical  study  of  fact  and  char- 
s'"' 'voil"^"''''  ^^'l"tn»a"  -     London,  ^Y.  Heinemann, 

.rotrl.      1389  • 

^Q4-th    i;^"".       iXf     i;lj,    308   p 
First  edition,  London,  1888. 

Dn43-01  p  .        „  ,    n    -n  T  ., 

V'59       Cojy  in  Barnard  Collogo  Library. 

1.  Gcrniany-Dcscr.  &  trav.     2.  National  characteristics,  German. 

•       "        '  •  »  (        \  4-20810 

--/ 
Library  of  Congress  DD117.W61 


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BAU.A:  ^''NE,    HANSON    ANH   CO. 
IMlURUH   AND  LONDON 


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CONTENTS. 


CD  .5 


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CHAP. 

I.   THE   GERMAN   CHAEACTER  IN   POLITICS 

II.    INTELLECTUAL   LIFE   . 

III.  EDUCATIONAL        .... 

IV.  THE    PRUSSIAN   MONARCHY 


V.   PATERNAL   GOVERNMENT 


VI.   BISMARCK 


VII.    THE  ARMY   . 


VIII.    THE    GERMAN   ARISTOCRACY 


IX.   GERMAN   SOCIETY 


X.   WOMANKIND   AND   FAMILY    LIFE 


XI,   THE    PHILISTINE 


XII.   COMMERCE  AND   MANUFACTURE 


XIII.  THE   GERMAN   PRESS 


XIV.   SUMMARY   AND   CONCLUSION 


PACE 
I 

22 

53 

65 
S8 

116 

143 
170 

192  i 

211 

227 
242 
276 
290 


IMPERIAL   GERMANY 


I  '■ 


H  Critical  Stu&g 


OF 


FACT    AND    CHARACTER 


BY 


SIDNEY  WHITMAN 


Greift  nur  hinein  ins  voile  Menschenleben 
Eiu  jeder  lebt's,  nicht  vielen  ists  bekannt, 
Und  wo  Ihr's  packt  da  ist's  interessant.— Goethe. 


LONDON 
TRUBNER    &    CO.,    LUDGATE    HILL 

1889 

[/4//  rights  reserved] 


5n  Btfcctionatc  /Iftcmor^ 


OF 


P.    A.    W. 


^     IIeidelbhrg. 


ijnr  jAXi-ARY  1S77. 


ONE  OF   THE    FEW   GERMANS, 

AVIIO,    PASSING    HIS   LIFE   AWAY    FROM    HIS    NATIVE    LAND, 

WAS   PROUD,    EVEN   DURING   HIS   COUNTRY'S   POLITICAL   MISERY, 

TO   PROCLAIM    HIS   NATIONALITY. 


o 

EH 


o 


r~ 


38005 


W\' 


PREFACE. 


Germany  is  a  giant  in  its  cradle,  whose  growth  and  develop- 
ment will  some  day  astonish  the  world. 

A.  J.  MUNDELLA,  M.P.,  i860. 

Those  whom  circumstances  have  enabled  to  dean  a 

o 

more  than  superficial  knowledge  of  other  countries 
than  their  own,  are  often  struck  by  our  general 
apathy  towards,  or  at  least  want  of  touch  with,  nation- 
alities that  have  much  in  common  with  us,  not  to 
mention  the  close  proximity  of  geographical  position. 
Even  more  than  this ;  many  of  us  must  often  have 
baen  painfully  surprised  to  note  how  such  want  of 
touch  has  contributed  to  warp  the  judgment  of 
men  far  above  the  average  in  intellect  and  culture, 
let  alone  men  in  responsible  political  position. 

When  I  say  want  of  touch,  I  mean  it  to  apply 


vin 


PREFACE. 


PREFACE, 


IX 


more  to  intellectual  than  to  material  matters  ;  and 
when  I  say  ignorance  or  apathy,  I  also  mean  it  to 
apply  more  to  the  atlinities  of  race  and  character 
than  to  the  mere  utilitarian  subjects  of  every-day 
life. 

I  do  not  wish  so  much  to  draw  attention  to  the 
material  aspects  of  CJcrman  life,  except  indirectly 
and  in  so  far  as  the  result  of  something  deeper. 
This  something  I  endeavour  to  present  with  its. 
advantages  and  its  drawbacks — namely,  tlie  general 
character,  ethical  and  ccsthetical,  of  the  great  people 
to  whom  we  are  allied  by  ties  of  blood  as  ^^'ell  as 
by  tradition.  Thus,  it  has  not  been  my  aim  to 
write  an  all-round  work  on  Germany,  such  as  Mr» 
Escott's  comprehensive  work  on  England,  but  rather 
to  deal  with  a  few  of  the  leading  characteristics  of 
Germany,  which  I  have  observed  closely  in  the 
country  itself,  and  which  I  think  likely  to  interest 
Englishmen  generally ;  and  if  I  only  succeed  in 
inspiring  a  few  of  my  readers  with  an  increased 
interest  in  the  great  Teutonic  nation  whose  power,. 


in  our   day,  is    one    of    the    safest    guarantees    of 
European  peace,  T  shall  not  have  written  in  vain. 

Some  of  the  conclusions  I  arrive  at  may  seem,  at 
lirst  sight,  somewhat  contradictory,  but  they  will  be 
seen  to  depend  upon  the  varying  points  of  view 
they  are  regarded  from.  It  has  been  my  aim  to 
speak  the  truth  fearlessly. 


SIDNEY  WHITMAN. 


London,  November  i,  iSSS. 


IMPERIAL    GERMANY. 


ERRATA. 


»» 


On  page  120,  line  16.  from  bottom,  read  "  help"yor  "  keep. 
165,  line  9  from  bottom,  omit  "  in." 
176,  in  foot-note,  read  "Bilder" /or  "Bildern." 
234,  line  9  from  bottom,  read  "  lap  "/or  "  hand." 


the  Germans,  as  they  cannot  love  us,  at  least  retain 
their  hatred  of  each  other,  so  that,  when  liome  begins 
to  totter,  she  may  at  least  find  support  in  the  discord 
of  that  race." 

On  March  23,  1887,  Bismarck  said  in  the 
Prussian  Herrenhaus  (House  of  Lords),  "  The  Ger- 
man lives  by  quarrelling  with  his  countrymen." 

The  opinion  held  by  the  Eoman  historian,  coin- 

*  Ne'er  was  a  people  just  towards  the  stranger  as  thou  art. 
Be  not  too  just ;  they  think  not  nobly  enough  to  see 
How  fair  thy  failing  is. 


ERRATA. 

On  page  120,  line  16.  from  bottom,  read  "  help  "/or  "  keep." 
,,         165,  line  9  from  bottom,  omit  "  in." 
„         176,  in  foot-note,  read  "Bilder  "/or  "  Bildern." 
„        234,  line  9  from  bottom,  read  "  lap  '^  far  *'  hand." 


IMPERIAL    GERMANY, 


« 


I 


Ml 


CHAPTEE  I. 

THE  GERMAN  CHARACTER  IN  POLITICS. 

Nie  war  gegen  das  Ausland 

Ein  anderes  Land  gerecht  wie  Du  ; 

Sei  nicht  allzii  gerecht !  Sie  denken  nicht  edel  genug, 

Zu  sehn,  wie  schon  Dein  Fehler  ist.* 

Klopstock. 

I. 

Eighteen  centuries  ago  Tacitus  exclaimed,  "  May 
the  Germans,  as  they  cannot  love  us,  at  least  retain 
their  hatred  of  each  other,  so  that,  when  Kome  begins 
to  totter,  she  may  at  least  find  support  in  the  discord 
of  that  race." 

On  March  23,  1887,  Bismarck  said  in  the 
Prussian  Herrenhaus  (House  of  Lords),  "The  Ger- 
man lives  by  quarrelling  with  his  countrymen." 

The  opinion  held  by  the  Eoman  historian,  coin- 

*  Ne'er  was  a  people  just  towards  the  stranger  as  thou  art. 
Be  not  too  just ;  they  think  not  nobly  enough  to  see 


How  fair  thy  failing  is. 


B 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


I! 


ciding  almost  word  for  word  with  that  of  the  greatest 
German  politician  of  our  time,  might  well  illustrate 
the  undying  tenacity  of  popular  characteristics,  and 
banish  optimistic  expectations  from  the  recent  con- 
stellation of  German  greatness. 

Allied  to  this  traditional  incapacity  for  united 
action,  history  records  a  strange  unreadiness  for 
action  of  any  decisive  kind.  Tlie  French  knew  this 
by  experience,  and  always  associated  the  idea  of 
unreadiness  with  the  Germans — they  were  always 
waiting  to  be  attacked.  Napoleon  aptly  suggested 
this  in  a  letter  during  one  of  his  campaigns.  "  Send 
me  biscuits  and  brandy  for  50,000  men;  it  is  easy 
enough  to  beat  the  Germans,  but  not  without  the 
biscuits,"  &c.  Ludwig  Borne  tells  us  a  German 
will  wear  his  coat  threadbare  whilst  making  up  his 
mind  whether  to  have  a  new  button  sewn  on  it  or 
not.  Their  sayings,  "  Nach  und  Nach "'  (Little  by 
little),  "  Eile  mit  Weile "  (Haste  with  leisure),  reflect 
this  national  idiosyncrasy. 

Thus  Shakspeare  is  supposed  to  have  portrayed 
the  typical  German  in  Hamlet — the  philosophizing 
prince,  who  utters  the  wisest  axioms  without  being 
able  to  bring  himself  to  act  upon  them. 

If  this  portrayal  be  true,  then  an  explanation  is 
found  for  the  fact  that  they  could  never  help  them- 
selves until  men  were  found  at  the  head  of  affairs 
who  united  tlie  idealism  of  a  Hamlet  with  the  bold 
decision  of  an  Anglo-Saxon  Cromwell. 

More  than  this,  the  salvation  of  Germany  had  to 
come  from  a  people  that  was  not  purely  German  by 
race.     Bismarck  himself  has   stated  his  conviction 


CHARACTER  IN  POLITICS, 


that  the  admixture  of  Slavonic  blood  in  the  old 
Prussian  provinces  has  given  them  those  blind  dog- 
like tough  qualities  of  devotion  and  obedience  that 
enabled  Frederick  the  Great  to  win  his  battles  with 
them,  and  thus  to  lay  the  foundation  of  Prussia's  hege- 
mony of  to-day.  The  old  provinces  of  Prussia  are  in 
unity  of  patriotism  and  power  of  recovery  more  like 
the  French  than  any  other  part  of  Germany. 

This  material,  led  by  genius,  has  always  done  its 
work  cleanly.  It  met  the  Austrians  at  Leuthen,  in 
the  slanting  battle-line  of  Epaminondas,  36,000 
against  85,000.  It  drove  the  French  like  hares  at 
Possbach.  The  French  never  properly  realized  this, 
and  only  remembered  elena,  when  this  same  material, 
defectively  organized  and  led  by  hopeless  imbecility, 
went  down  before  the  greatest  captain  of  the  age. 
The  French  only  remembered  the  Germans  as  a 
disunited  herd,  that  always  waited  to  be  attacked 
and  never  took  the  offensive.  They  forget  those 
days  are  gone  for  ever  since  Prussia,  that  always 
took  the  initiative,  leads  the  van.  The  defensive 
is  an  Austrian  speciality;  it  is  typical  of  that  brave, 
but  unready,  indolent  nation  that  in  '66,  true  to 
its  old  instincts,  gloated  over  its  cleverness  in 
enticing  the  Prussians  into  Bohemia  in  order  to  eat 
them  when  once  there. 

Formerly,  this  Austrian  characteristic  distinguished 
all  Germany  ;  to-day,  Prussia  is  striving  hard  to 
eradicate  it.  Yet  even  now,  wherever  Prussia  is 
not  directly  administrative,  traces  of  that  delightful 
little  German  quality,  procrastination  or  unreadiness, 
shows  its  cloven  foot,  not  to  mention  the  still  older 

B  2 


1^ 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


CHARACTER  IN  POLITICS. 


Ill 


i 


idiosyncrasy  of  discord  and  doctrinarism.  This 
makes  us  believe  that  if  the  Prussians  had  not 
brought  them  salvation  they  would  never  have  got 
it,  and  without  their  guidance  they  would  to-morrow 
forfeit  it  again  and  their  country  once  more  become 
the  battle-field  of  Europe. 

Yet  these  procrastinating,  unready  Austrians 
were  always  popular  with  the  masses  in  the  same 
proportion  as  the  Prussians  were  disliked,  even  in 
provinces  like  those  of  the  Ehine  that  but  recently 
came  under  Prussian  sway.  Only  the  intellectual 
few  long  recognized  the  superb  qualities  of  honesty, 
economy,  order,  and  devotion  to  duty  that  every- 
where distinguished  the  Prussian  administration. 
Thus  the  recognition  has  been  a  slow  process  based 
on  respect,  the  safest  of  foundations,  and  those  who 
pinned  their  sympathies  to  Austria  have  had  time 
to  discover  that,  in  this  instance,  the  head  offered 
no  justification  for  the  leanings  of  the  heart. 

It  would  seem  that  national  characteristics,  which, 
like  all  other  characteristics,  according  to  Darwin, 
must  be  the  result  of  infinitely  long-standing  in- 
fluences, die  hard.  Happily,  a  national  character  is 
not  composed  of  one  or  even  two  unfortunate  traits, 
but  of  many  qualities,  some  of  which  go  to  annul 
and  obliterate  the  working  of  others.  Thus,  the 
Germans,  whom  only  yesterday  we  witnessed  red- 
dening their  fields  with  blood  in  fratricidal  strife, 
we  behold  to-day  thronging  round  a  young  Emperor 
in  a  genuine  outburst  of  patriotic  ideality,  ready 
to  call  out,  "Ave  Csesar  Imperator,  morituri  te 
salutant !" 


All  well-wishers  of  Germany  must  hope  that  this 
genuine  feeling  of  patriotism  will  long  form  a  rally- 
ing-point  round  which  all  shall  gather  who  are 
prepared  to  do  and  die  for  their  country, 

II. 

It  is  a  peculiar  fact,  and  one  that  speaks  highly 
for  the  intellectual  capacities  of  the  race,  that, 
whereas  all  times  and  many  countries  have  produced 
severe  critics  of  the  German  character,  their  bitterest 
censors  have  been  found  among  their  most  eminent 
countrymen.  The  nation  of  thinkers  and  critics 
has  indeed  produced  severe  critics  of  themselves — 
anatomists  who  have  studied  the  anatomy  of  character 
from  their  own  corpus  vile.  It  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  do  more  than  mention  the  names  of  Frederick  the 
Great,  Lessing,  Goethe,  Schopenhauer,  and,  to-day, 
Bismarck  himself.  They  have  accused  the  nation  of 
its  dilatory  failings,  its  doctrinarism,  and  its  tendency 
to  discord.  And  this  very  people  has  always  had  a 
word  of  admiration  for  the  qualities  of  other  races. 

Yet  it  is  only  fair  to  ask.  May  not  this  incapacity 
in  the  past  of  rallying  round  one  central  personage, 
this  doctrinarism,  be  the  unfortunate  offshoots  of 
that  anxious  and  hopeless  pondering  over  and 
striving  for  an  impossible  ideal  that  has  enabled 
the  Germans  to  achieve  such  wonders  in  the  fields 
of  science  and  philosophy  ?  Has  not  this  politically 
unfortunate  characteristic  been  intensified  by  his- 
torical circumstance  of  exceptional  unfavourableness  ? 
And  may  we  not  assume  that  the  fact  of  the  old 


Iliill 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


CHARACTER  IN  POLITICS, 


German  Empire  having  been  an  elective  kingdom  in 
the  past  largely  fostered  national  discord  ? 

There  is  only  one  other  analogous  example  of  an 
elective  kingdom  in  history  to  draw  a  parallel  with, 
and  in  the  very  mention  of  its  name  the  moral  is 
self-evident — Poland  !  The  incapacity  of  the  exalted 
few  in  whose  hands  the  national  destinies  were 
collectively  placed,  to  subordinate  their  pretensions 
to  rule  to  the  claim  of  any  one  family  in  the 
interests  of  all,  has  had  in  both  instances  similar, 
though  fortunately  not  equal,  results. 

Surely  there  is  something  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive in  the  above,  for  there  is  no  denying  the  long- 
standing popular  longing  for  national  unity.  Does 
not  the  legend  of  the  Emperor  Barbarossa  bear 
witness  to  it  ?  Does  not  a  gleam  of  romance  break 
throudi  the  Middle-A^es  and  show  us  the  ideal 
figure  of  the  Hohenstaufen  Emperor  Frederick  II. 
(a.d.  1250)?  And  has  not  popular  sentiment  woven 
a  wreath  of  undying  poetry  round  the  person  of 
this  cultured  and  unfortunate  champion  of  national 
greatness  against  Papal  supremacy  ? 

Since  that  time  the  Germans  have  ever  been 
fighting  for  union,  and  often  in  the  agony  of  strife 
have  they  forgotten  what  they  were  striving  for,  and 
thought  only  of  feud  and  battle. 

III. 

After  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Frederick  the 
power  of  the  petty  princes  and  of  the  aristocracy 
increased  so  immeasurably  that  there  failed  to  rise  to 


\ 


the  surface  any  one  predominant  influence  for  long. 
The  German  King  and  Emperor  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire,  elected  from  among  themselves,  was  always 
powerless  to  further  the  consolidation  of  national 
unity.  Yet  the  national  longing  still  survived  and 
embodied  itself  in  the  myth  of  the  Kyffbauser, 
where  Barbarossa  sat  in  somnolent  state,  guarded  by 
ravens,  biding  the  time  of  the  re-awakening  of 
national  unity  and  splendour. 

We  require  an  effort  of  the  imagination  even  to 
recall  that  there  was  a  time  when  the  German 
Emperor  ruled  a  country  on  which  the  sun  ne'er  set, 
when  Germany  was  the  home  of  merchant  princes 
who  helped  their  monarch  from  their  private  means,* 
when  German  architecture  was  the  most  splendid, 
when  German  life  was  the  most  luxurious,  and 
German  manufactures  the  most  renowned.  It  was 
the  time  of  Charles  V.  of  Hapsburg,  when  France's 
King  was  Germany's  prisoner,  when  Spain,  with  its 
newly  discovered  American  possessions,  when  from 
the  Netherlands  to  the  frontier  of  Iceland  to  the 
east  and  unto  the  Alps  to  the  south,  the  whole 
centre  of  Europe  bowed  to  German  sway. 

That  was  the  moment  for  a  great  political  figure 
to  appear,  and,  rallying  the  nation  around  it,  to  con- 
solidate a  strong  hereditary  empire  in  the  centre  of 
Europe.  The  dawn  of  a  new  era  to  turn  to  for 
hope  had  begun,  for  Luther  had  appeared  on  the 
scene,  and,  smgle-handed,  stood  his  ground  against 


*  The  rich  Fuggers  of  Augsburg,  who   assisted   Charles  V. 
with  their  wealth. 


8 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


CHARACTER  IN  POLITICS. 


IMlh' 


the  powers  of  Eome.  "  Yes,  I  will  go  to  Worms, 
even  if  the  house-tops  are  crowded  with  devils," 
said  this  mighty  German.  A  spiritual  Bismarck 
was  there  to  point  to  a  new  God,  but  the  Hapsburg 
Emperor  was  no  King  William  to  draw  the  sword 
in  his  name. 

Thus  the  Eeformation,  instead  of  uniting  Ger- 
many, led  to  its  deepest  political  degradation — the 
"  Thirty  Years'  AYar  " — out  of  which  it  emerged 
with  its  population  reduced  from  sixteen  millions 
to  less  than  five,  and  with  a  loss  of  national  wealth 
from  which  it  has  even  now  only  partially  recovered. 

For  centuries  the  Kaiser  was  more  or  less  a 
foreign  potentate.  The  national  feeling  longed  for 
a  German  Kaiser,  not  for  a  Spaniard  or  even  an 
Austrian.  Thus  for  centuries  the  Germans  were 
like  the  fragments  in  a  kaleidoscope,  without  cohe- 
sion, yet  presenting  brilliant,  unexpected  pictures, 
rarely  coloured,  but  repeated  at  the  will  of  a 
stranger.  Bismarck  has  said,  "  The  Germans  are 
capable  of  everything  if  once  anger  or  necessity 
should  unite  them." 

This  we  have  seen  to  be  true,  but  it  wanted  the 
uniting  central  personalities,  and  only  when  these 
came  could  the  best  capacities  of  the  race  find  ex- 
pression. That  an  indomitable  spirit  worthy  of  a 
great  nation  was  never  wanting  is  proved  by  his- 
tory. The  fighting  capacities  and  fidelity  of  even 
German  mercenaries  at  all  times  and  in  all  parts 
of  the  world — Eome,  the  Italian  Eepublics,  and  in 
America — are  attested  by  many  writers.  Even  in 
recent  times,  when  Napoleon  I.  was  deserted  by  his 


followers,  those  with  German  names  were  most  true 
to  him.  This  German  militant  fidelity  (Dmtsche 
Treue)  is  no  vain  boast,  though  through  the  lack  of 
unity  it  had  little  to  hold  to  or  encourage  it.  In 
the  "  Thirty  Years'  War  "  they  fought  the  battle  of 
others.  TJie  "  Seven  Years'  War,"  which  first  gave 
Protestant  Germany  a  chance,  yet  failed  to  afibrd  a 
rallying-point  to  all. 

Strange,  indeed,  it  is  that  the  rich  German  lan- 
guage, although  it  has  a  word  for  "  patriotism,"  has 
none  for  "  patriot."  It  has  even  a  word  for  being 
without  a  country,  a  unique  word,  "  Yaterlandslos," 
thus  pointing  to  the  history  of  its  past. 

lY. 

After  Napoleon  I.  had  made  a  clean  sweep  of 
the  political  chessboard,  and  he  in  his  turn  had 
vanished  to  eat  out  his  ambitious  heart  in  a  desert 
island,  the  difficulty  still  remained — whom  to  invest 
with  the  national  aspirations  ?  Had  a  Cavour 
arisen  then  to  champion  the  nation's  legitimate 
rights  against  the  jealousy  of  the  Allied  Powers, 
Germany  would  have  annexed  Alsace  in  1815, 
Lorraine  might  still  be  French,  and  the  war  of  1870 
might  never  have  been  fought  ! 

But  the  idea  of  unity,  nurtured  at  all  times  at  the 
universities,  lived  on  among  the  true  aristocrats  of 
the  nation ;  among  the  best  of  every  class,  from  the 
highest  to  the  humblest ;  it  maintained  itself  most 
vigorously  in  the  middle  class. 

Thus  the  longing  for  unity  had  still  to  live  on  in 


10 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


CHARACTER  IN  POLITICS, 


II 


m 


¥ 


the  national  heart,  and,  stronger  than  ever  through 
the  sad  period  of  reaction  from  1815  to  1848,  it 
found  popular  vent  in  that  noble  song :  "  Was  ist  des 
Deutschen  Yaterland  ? "  which  answered  the  question 
in  the  refrain  : 

Where'er  the  Gerraan  tongue  doth  sound. 
There  must  the  Fatherland  be  found. 

This  national  feeling  came  to  a  head  in  the  revo- 
lution of  1848.  The  people  asked  not  for  a  re- 
public ;  they  longed  for  unity.  And  its  expression 
w^as  not  thrown  away ;  although  fruitless  at  the 
time,  the    Frankfort  Parliament   prepared   the  way 

for  Prussia. 

In  the  foreground  stood  Austria  and  Prussia, 
conscious  of  the  national  longing— jealously  confront- 
ino'  each  other.  But  until  the  latter  had  shown,  as 
if  by  magic, 

When  Prussia's  eagle  swept  fair  Austria's  lands 

in  seven  days,  that  she  could  beat  the  former,  few 
could  discern  in  her  the  realizer  of  popular  dreams. 
The  hopeless  misery  of  the  past  had  left  the  petty 
fear  of  becoming  "  Prussianized "  to  obscure  the 
o-reater  iioal  :  to  rise  through  Prussia   to   a  greater 

Germanv. 

Only  when  the  late  Emperor  William  had  ful- 
filled the  promise  he  held  out  in  1866,  that  he 
would  hold  the  interests  of  Germany  paramount 
and  highest,  has  the  gradual  revolution  of  feeling 
become  complete— the  recognition  by  the  majority 
that  the  national  ideal  has  at  last  been  in  a  great 
measure  realized  by  Prussia. 


Such  are  the  broad  outlines  of  fact  bearing  on 
the  realization  of  the  national  longing  for  unity. 
Yet  it  would  be  gross  superficiality  to  think  that 
the  lucky  rolling  of  the  iron  dice  alone  brought 
it  about.  When  Xapoleon  I.  vanquished  I'russia 
and  humbled  her  to  the  dust  in  one  day,  the  best 
qualities  of  a  nation  awoke  from  a  long  sleep. 

Prussia  was  not  allowed  to  keep  a  standing 
army  above  42,000  men.  Stein,  Scharnhorst,  and 
von  der  Knesebeck  (a  weighty  man,  little  known 
to  popular  readers)  planned  a  secret  system  by 
which  the  greater  part  of  the  male  population  was 
speedily  passed  through  the  army  between  the  years 
1807  and  1813.  This  system  was  secretly  and 
successfully  carried  out  without  it  being  betrayed 
to  the  French.  A  people  that  could  act  thus 
was  worthy  to  form  the  nucleus  of  a  new  Empire. 
It  remains  one  of  the  grandest  traits  of  national 
character  in  history,  this  instance  of  not  one 
single  traitor  being  found  among  a  whole  people. 
This  efiiicement  of  tlie  individual  before  the 
interests  of  the  community  runs  like  a  red  thread 
through  the  history  of  civil  as  well  as  of  military 
Prussia. 

It  is  in  the  grit  of  the  Prussian  character,  and  its 
gradual  recognition  by  Germany  as  a  whole,  that 
we  must  seek  the  real  key  to  what  the  thoughtless 
crowd  would  put  down  as  the  mere  natural  results 
of  fortunate  soldiering  alone. 

The  House  of  Hohenzollern  has  fostered  the 
hardest  quaHties  of  a  strong  hardy  race,  and 
forged  a  sword  for  it.      The  genius  of  its  leaders  has 


12 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


CHARACTER  IN  POLITICS. 


13 


lii 


guided   the  working  out  of    its  highest  destiny  in 
our  time. 

V. 

German  unity  has  been  fought  for  and  gained  in 
spite  of  desperate  opposition  from  within  and  from 
without ;  it  has  still  to  encounter  many  more  or  less 
inimical  influences  from  within.  In  addition  to  the 
difficulties  arising  from  unfitness  of  character  were 
differences  of  institutions  both  social  and  legal. 
The  North,  principally  Protestant,  is  still  in  part 
intensely  aristocratic,  and,  more  lately,  honeycombed 
with  Socialism ;  whereas  the  West  and  the  South 
have  felt  the  waves  of  the  French  Eevolution  and 
are  democratic,  besides  being  largely  Catholic.  There 
are  millions  of  Germans  who  place  their  allegi- 
ance to  the  Pope  above  that  to  their  Sovereign.  It 
is  German  doctrinarism  that  makes  this  possible — 
instinctive  doctrinarism  in  those  who  do  not  even 
know  the  meaning  of  the  word.  For  Catholics  in 
other  countries  have  rarely  allowed  their  religion  to 
nullify  their  patriotism. 

The  Pope  himself  soon  dropped  his  attempts  to 
side  with  the  English  Government  against  the  Irish 
peasants  when  the  latter,  through  their  Protestant  re- 
presentatives, plainly  intimated  that  they  would  have 
none  of  his  interference.  But  Irish  patriotism  is 
doubtless  a  hardier  plant  than  German  "  Vaterlands- 
liebe "  has  hitherto  been.  It  is  only  in  Germany 
that  a  man  such  as  Dr.  Windhorst,  a  sworn  hater 
of  united  Germany  under  Prussia,  could  have  the 
following  he  has. 


But  sentiments  that  owed  their  origin  to  Catholic 
or  Guelphic  partisanship  have  often  been  taken  up 
by  those  who  had  no  other  excuse  for  sharing  them 
than  blind  party  passion  and  envy.  They  have 
often  been  taken  up  by  men  who  were  neither 
separatist  Alsacians  nor  Catholic  Poles,  but  lonCt' 
fide  self -asserting  Germans. 

Because  advocates  of  social  reforms  cannot  have 
them  carried  out  in  their  own  way,  jealousy  bids 
them  do  their  best  to  asperse  tlie  motives  of  others 
equally  well  intentioned  as  they  themselves  are 
(though  this  must  be  admitted  to  be  also  a  parlia- 
mentary feature  nearer  home).  It  is  even  on  record 
that  a  Heidelberg  Professor  of  world-wide  reputa- 
tion, wlio  had  preached  the  gospel  of  unity  all  his 
life,  rushed  away  to  Italy  in  tlie  sulks  when  it 
came  in  a  different  form  to  that  which  he  had  pre- 
scribed for  it ! 

Because  the  "Iron  Chancellor"  is  diffident  of 
the  practicability  of  the  ready-made  theories  of 
Manchester,  which  Liberal  entliusiasts  would  have 
him  accept  as  the  crowning  of  the  State  eiifice, 
therefore  every  initiative  of  the  State  musi.  be 
opposed,  and  that  only  too  often  in  a  petty  and 
venomous  spirit.  It  is  not  so  much  opposition 
itself  as  the  spirit  thereof  that  is  to  be  deplored. 
The  daily  increasing  hate  and  estrangement  between 
the  different  political  parties  is  already  showing  the 
incapacity  of  parliamentary  government  to  har- 
monize the  differences  of  feeling  in  the  community; 
if  anything,  it  only  tends  to  accentuate  them. 

Even  if  some  of  these  elements  do  not  direct 


i 


14 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


CHARACTER  IN  POLITICS, 


15 


their  energies  against  unity  itself,  they  have  often 
been  directed  against  the  avowed  policy  of  its  im- 
mediate founders. 

Still,  we  are  in  fairness  bound  to  ask  ourselves  : 
May  not  some  of  the  opposition  Bismarck  has  ever 
encountered  in  the  execution  of  his  far-seeing 
plans  often  have  been  an  exaggerated  manifestation 
of  that  independence  of  individual  conscientious 
thouglit  which  will  not  yield  itself  captive  even  to 
the  glamour  of  military  prowess  ?  And,  if  it  be  so, 
can  we  quite  help  bestowing  a  mite  of  admiration, 
even  where  we  feel  bound  to  condemn  its  results  ? 

Can  we,  again,  refuse  a  tribute  of  respect  when  we 
meet  such  instances  of  personal  unselfish  devotion 
to  a  lost  cause  as  from  time  immemorial  every  turn 
of  the  political  wheel  of  fortune  has  called  forth  in 
Germany?  We  may  deplore  the  attachment  to  a 
lost  cause  that  obscures  the  vision  for  a  broader  and 
nobler  one  that  has  grown  into  a  splendid  reality, 
but  we  cannot  condemn  the  instinct  that  blinds 
those  ^>o  the  future  whose  heart  unselfishly  clings 
to  a  past,  be  it  never  so  poor  in  the  eyes  of  the 
looker  on. 

But,  besides  opposition  of  the  kind  hinted  at 
above,  there  remains  much  that  cannot  be  put  down 
either  to  noble  or  unselfish  motives. 

The  petty  but  honest  feeling  of  narrow  State 
loyalty  has  been  Germany's  political  curse,  for  it 
obscured  the  horizon  of  a  broader  national  firma- 
ment ;  but  the  idea  of  unity  has  had  other  enemies  to 
deal  with.  These,  if  not  so  powerful  in  the  aggre- 
gate, have  yet   caused  Germany's   leaders   many   a 


pang  of  sorrow  and  disappointment.  We  mean  that 
spirit  of  Philistinism,  of  envy  and  distrust,  alterna- 
ting with  indifference,  which  only  the  stirring  hours 
of  a  death-grapple  cast  temporarily  in  the  back- 
ground. It  comes  to  the  front  again  \\\  all  its 
ugHness  with  the  return  of  peace  and  security. 

Such  are  some  of  the  dangerous  elements  Ger- 
many will  have  to  grapple  with  still  when  those 
mighty  men  have  all  passed  away  to  whom  the 
Fatherland  is  so  immensely  indebted. 

VI. 

Misfortune  has  taught  the  Germans  many  a  lesson, 
and  doubtless  benefited  them  ;  still,  they  have  not 
passed  through  the  fire  of  the  past  without  the  de- 
velopment of  peculiarities  of  character,  which  are 
more  or  less  distinctly  traceable  to  the  sufferings 
they  have  endured. 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  some  of  the  petty 
failings  of  to-day  were  existent  in  the  olden  times 
of  national  splendour.  In  those  days  German  life 
could  not  show  that  amount  of  littleness,  of  hyper- 
sensitiveness,  of  personal  spite  and  petty  malice  and 
envy,  that  have  been  often  noticed  and  deplored  in 
later  times. 

Such  qualities  could  not  flourish  amidst  the  pomp 
and  panoply  of  national  prosperity.  They  could  but 
be  the  ugly  offshoot  born  of  oppression,  poverty,  and 
misery.  And  now  that  there  seems  a  great  future 
in  store  for  Germany,  her  friends  can  only  hope 
that  qualities  which  owed  their  existence  to  mis- 


i6 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


fortune — as  disease  owes  its  presence  to  dirt — shall 
gradually  disappear  at  the  re-awakening  of  the  best 
instincts  of  this  mighty  race.  This  is  the  more  to 
be  wished  as  such  qualities  are  largely  answerable 
for  the  perpetuation  of  the  oldest  German  national 
failinc,  discord.  That  since  1870  a  broader  national 
feeling  has  steadily  increased  is  admitted  on  all 
hands"  Yet  these  are  not  the  only  effects  of  victory ; 
it  has  put  many  off  their  guard  as  to  the  dangers 
to  be  provided  against  in  the  future. 

The  history  of  a  thousand  years  is  not   nullified 
by  the  victories  of  one  generation,  even  though  such 
victories  be  the  result  of  a  long-sustained  system  of 
discipline  and  a  universal  acceptation  of  heroic  duty. 
The   defects  of  the  national  character   which  bade 
Teutons  themselves  desert  their  national   hero,  Ar- 
niinius,   which    enabled    a   Eichelieu   to   sway    the 
conduct  of  the  "Thirty  Years'  War,"    defects  which 
have  made  Germans  slavishly  bow  down  to  titles  of 
rulers  gained  in  return  for  the  slaughter   of   their 
own  countrymen* — such  may  be  scotched,  but  they 
were  not  killed  at  Sadowa  or  Sedan.     Nor  were  they 
choked  by  the  proclamation  of  the  German  Empire 
at  Versailles. 

The  political  pauperism  of  the  past,  the  petty 
and  half-dormant,  if  not  torpid  social  life  of  cen- 
turies have  generated  idiosyncrasies  that  will  only 
be  gradually  obliterated  by  sustained  moral  effort. 


*  The  present  titles  of  the  i  iilers  of  Saxony,  Bavaria,  Wiir- 
temberg,  Baden,  and  Hesse-Darmstadt  were  the  creations  of 
Napoleon  I.  In  each  case  they  signify  a  step  in  advance  on  the 
previous  one  held  by  their  possessors. 


CHARACTER  IN  POLITICS, 


17 


The  constant  danger  arising  from  these  is  intensified 

when  we  bear  in  mind  what  has  just  been  noted 

the  social  and  political  differences  in  the  population 
of  iSTorth  and  South. 

The  Germans  are  a  sensitive  people,  and  yet,  with 
this  and  all  their  peculiarities,  they  possess  an  im- 
partiality of  judgment  in  some  things  that  is  in 
many  ways  remarkable.  The  Germans  often  use  the 
word  "  Objectivitat ''  (objectiveness),  and  they  have 
some  reason  for  doing  so.  Bismarck  has  accused 
them  of  being  ashamed  of  their  nationality  abroad  and 
of  adopting  the  bad  qualities  of  the  people  amongst 
whom  they  live.  With  regard  to  tlie  first  accusation, 
a  foundation  for  it  in  the  past  cannot  be  denied. 
But  there  was  also  something  to  explain  it;  the 
national  tendency  to  objectiveness  explains  it. 

Germans  abroad  have  generally  come  from  a  class 
that  has  more  acute  perceptions  for  material  than  for 
ideal  advantages.  Tlius,  in  coming  abroad,  seeing 
larger  practical  and  material  conditions  of  life,  they 
looked  back  with  contempt  on  the  petty  parochial 
character  of  life  in  their  native  land ;  those  that 
leave  their  country  do  not,  as  a  rule,  possess  ideality 
enough  to  cherish  their  country  for  that,  though  there 
were  at  all  times  exceptions.  The  German  abroad 
becomes  more  practical,  but  loses  in  a  spiritual  sense ; 
he  assimilates  the  utilitarian  features  of  the  country 
he  lives  in,  only  too  often  to  lose  touch  with  the 
ideality  of  his  native  land,  which  should  make  him 
prouder  of  his  country  than  of  her  recent  victories. 
Tliis  bewildering  outward  aspect  of  practical  life 
in  England  and  America  also  explains  why  travel- 


m 


m 


,8  IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

liner  En'^lislimen  are  so  often  unable  to  appreciate 
what  is'the  strong  side  of  German  life— its  culture. 
They  only  see  the  outside,  and,  as  that  was  hitherto 
more  striking  in  our  country,  their  opinion  of  the 
country  has  ever  been  such  a  shallow  one. 

This  objectiveness  is  shown  in  the  judgment  of 
their  enemies.     The  English  and  French  either  hate 
their  enemies  and  slander  them,  or  when  they  have 
beaten  them  have  a  contempt  for  them.     Napoleon  I. 
always  felt  a  stron^r  contempt  for  his  enemies.     Not 
so  the  Germans.    They  invariably  speak  with  respect 
of  their  enemies,  even  be  they  those  they  have  beaten 
—such  as  the  Danes,  the  Austrians,and  the  French— 
or  the  Eussians.      It  is  perhaps  one  of  their  soundest 
national  traits,  from  a   military  point  of  view,  that 
they  invariably  over-estimate  their  enemies,  for  this 
characteristic  has  certainly  not  made  them  afraid  to 
meet  them.     Even  the  inimitable  Boulanger  they  at 
first  took   cm  s4riemi,  and  only  spoke  of  him  with 
contempt  when  he  showed  characteristics  that  would 
have  ruined  him  in  twenty-four  hours  had  he  been 

a  German. 

Bearing  the  character  of  the  military  successes  ot 
Germany  In  mind,  we  have  always  been  struck  by 
the  "  comparative  "  absence  of  national  self-assertion. 

The  Prussians,  who  used  to  be  considered  indi- 
vidually and  collectively  arrogant  and  overbearing, 
even  by  the  Germans  themselves,  have  largely  lost  the 
reputation  for  such  attributes  now  that  their  worth 
has  been  more  generally  recognized,  for  in  the  lack 
of  honest  recognition  such  qualities  often  have  their 
origin     AVe  shall  deal  with  the  Philistine  by  himself, 


CHARACTER  IJV  POLITICS. 


19 


but  the  more  intelligent  the  individual  we  meet,  the 
more  moderate  the  views  invariably  held ;  and  even 
among  the  comparatively  uncultured  that  senseless 
bounce  we  often  deplore  in  otiier  nations  is  mostly 
absent. 

VII. 

Up  to  the  present,  whatever  may  be  said  to  the 
contrary,  chauvinism  is  not  a  national  German  fail- 
ing.     Some  affect  to  deplore  the  marked  military— 
not   to   say  nationally  assertive — tendencies  of  the 
present  Emperor,  and  look  back  with  regret  to  the 
Liberal  and  liumanitarian  temi:)erament  of  his  father. 
But  one  thing  seems  certain  :   as  long  as  in  certain 
quarters  humanitarianism  and   Liberalism   imply  a 
possibility  of   yielding  one  inch   of   what  has  been 
gained  by  such  sacrifices  of   blood   and  treasure,  so 
long  Germany  cannot  afford  to  indulge  too  readily  in 
those  excellent  qualities.      It  is  a  sad  truth,  but  it 
is  an  important  one.     That  arch-wiseacre.  General 
Ignatieff,   tells   us    that  immediately   after  '70   he 
ironically   congratulated    the    Germans    on    having 
annexed  "  an  open  wound  "  in  Alsace  and  Lorraine  ! 
As  if  the  French  did  not  harbour  revenge  against 
England  during  nearly  half-a-century  after  Waterloo, 
although  England  did  not  despoil  them  of  an  inch 
of  territory  !     When  will  reasonable  beings  be  able 
to  see  that  French  vanity  would  have  been  as  irre- 
vocably v/ounded  by  the  loss  of  one  battle  as  by 
the  loss  of  half-a-dozen   provinces,  and — the  most 
important   point — she   would   have  remained   more 
powerful  to  resent  it ! 

C  2 


:^    ,  ^ 


,8  IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

lin-  En-lislimen  are  so  often  unable  to  appreciate 
what  is  the  strong  side  of  German  life— its  culture. 
They  only  see  the  outside,  and,  as  that  was  hitherto 
more  striking  in  our  country,  their  opinion  ot  the 
country  has  ever  been  such  a  shallow  one. 

This  objectiveness  is  shown  in  the  jud-ment  of 
their  enemies.     The  English  and  French  either  hate 
their  enemies  and  slander  them,  or  when  they  have 
beaten  them  have  a  contempt  for  them.      Napoleon  I. 
always  felt  a  strontr  contempt  for  his  enemies.     Not 
so  the  ( lemians.    They  invariably  speak  with  respect 
of  their  enemies,  even  be  they  those  they  have  beaten 
—such  as  the  Danes,  the  Austrians,and  the  French— 
or  the  Russians.     It  is  perhaps  one  of  their  soundest 
national  traits,  from  a   military  point  of  view,  that 
they  invariably  over-estimate  their  enemies,  for  this 
characteristic  has  certainly  not  made  them  afraid  to 
meet  them.     Even  the  inimitable  Boulanger  they  at 
iirst  took   cm  sirum\  and  only  spoke  of  him  with 
contempt  when  he  showed  characteristics  that  would 
have  ruined  him  in  twenty-four  hours  had  he  been 

a  German. 

Beariniz  the  character  of  the  military  successes  ot 
Germany  in  mind,  we  have  always  been  struck  by 
the  "  comparative  "  absence  of  national  self-assertion. 

The  l»russians,  who  used  to  be  considered  indi- 
vidually and  collectively  arrogant  and  overbearing, 
even  by  the  Germans  themselves,  have  largely  lost  the 
reputation  for  such  attributes  now  that  their  worth 
has  been  more  generally  recognized,  for  in  the  lack 
of  honest  recognition  such  qualities  often  have  their 


CHARACTER  IN  POLITICS, 


19 


origin. 


AVe  shall  deal  with  the  Philistine  by  himself, 


but  the  more  intelligent  the  individual  we  meet,  the 
more  moderate  the  views  invariably  held ;  and  even 
among  the  comparatively  uncultured  that  senseless 
bounce  we  often  deplore  in  otlier  nations  is  mostly 
absent. 

VII. 

Up  to  tlie  present,  whatever  may  be  said  to  the 
contrary,  chauvinism  is  not  a  national  (Jerman  fail- 
ing.     Some  afiect  to  deplore  the  marked  military— 
not   to   say  nationally  assertive — tendencies  of  the 
present  Emperor,  and  look  back  witli  regret  to  the 
Liberal  and  humanitarian  temperament  of  his  father. 
But  one  thing  seems  certain :   as  long  as  in  certain 
quarters  humanitarianism  and   Liberalism   imply  a 
possibility  of   yielding  one  inch   of   what  has  been 
gained  by  such  sacrifices  of   blood   and  treasure,  so 
long  Germany  cannot  afibrd  to  indulge  too  readily  in 
those  excellent  qualities.     It  is  a  sad  truth,  but  it 
is  an  important  one.      That  arch-wiseacre,  General 
Ignatieff,    tells    us    that  immediately   after  '70    he 
ironically   congratulated    the    Germans    on    having 
annexed  "  an  open  wound  "  in  Alsace  and  Lorraine  ! 
As  if  the  French   did  not  harbour  revenge  against 
England  during  nearly  half-a-century  after  Waterloo, 
although  England  did  not  despoil  them  of  an  inch 
of  territory  !     When  will  reasonable  beings  be  able 
to  see  that  French  vanity  would  have  been  as  irre- 
vocably v/ounded  by  the  loss  of  one  battle  as  by 
the  loss   of  half-a-dozen   provinces,  and — the  most 
important   point— she   would   have  remained   more 
powerful  to  resent  it ! 

C  2 


20 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


CHARACTER  IN  POLITICS, 


21 


Immediately  after  the  war  of  '70,  a  brilliant  Paris 
journalist   of   German   birth,  Albert  Wolff,  wrote  a 
book,  gingerly  putting  the  French  in  the  wrong,  but 
winding  up  with  the  declaration  that  he  was  ashamed 
of  his  native  land  that  it  had  not  used  its  victory 
to  be  generous  and  forborne  to  wrest  territory  from 
France !     It  is  indeed  a  sad  inheritance  from  the 
past  that  such  ideas  should  find  serious  acceptance. 
People  never  think  of  suggesting  or  expecting  that 
we,  or  the  French,  or  the   Ptussians   are   going    to 
forego  the  fruits  of  victory  or  to  yield  up  the  price 
of  their  blood.     The  Germans  have  a  right  to  be 
taken  ecpially  an  sirimx,  and  their  well-wishers  will 
not  easily  quarrel  with  the  means  they  use  to  attain 
that  legitimate  end. 

Let  the  Emperor  taboo  the  French  language,  let 
Bismarck  refuse  to  be  addressed  in  that  tongue.  The 
time  may  come  when  it  will  be  considered  as  incon- 
siderate to  address  Germans  on  equal  conditions  in 
any  other  language  than  their  own  as  it  is  now  the 
case  with  Frenchmen,  Americans,  or  Englishmen. 
When  that  comes  to  pass,  then  the  nonsense  of  treat- 
ing political  Germany  as  the  poor  boy  of  the  nursery 
book  will  cease,  and  until  then  it  will  be  quite  time 
to  speak  of  German  chauvinism. 

Amidst  much  mist  and  darkness  there  is  a 
brio-ht  star  in  the  national  character  that  has  not 
shown  itself  of  late,  for  it  requires  defeat  and 
national  humiliation  in  order  to  witness  its  bril- 
liancy. It  is  German  valour  and  fidelity  under 
defeat.  It  is  one  of  the  fairest  attributes  of  the 
national  character ;  it  is  ideal.     History  is  full  of 


it,  and  well  may  the  nation  be  proud  of  its  record. 
Even  that  rabid  chauvinist  historian,  Thiers,*  has 
gone  out  of  his  way  to  bear  testimony  to  the  fighting 
endurance  of  defeated  Germany,  and  to  its  fidelity 
to  its  unhappy  leaders. 


*  "  Histoire  du  Consulat  et  de  rEmpire." 


(      22      ) 


CHAFTEE  II. 


iijiil 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE. 

We  classify  a  range  of  mountains  according  to  the  altitude  of 
its  highest  peaks. — Axon. 

I. 

If  we  follow  the  history  of  intellectual  development 
in  England,  and  its  bearing  on  the  material  achieve- 
ments of  the  English  people,  we  perceive  that 
one  of  the  reasons  why  the  latter  liave  achieved  so 
mucli  is  that  they  have  rarely  striven  but  for 
what  they  could  gxasp.  Like  Bismarck  in  this, 
they  have  ever  taken  one  thing  practically  in  hand 

at  a  time. 

There  is  comparatively  little  dreamy  ideality  in  our 
race  ;  and,  in  the  higher  Grecian  sense  of  the  word, 
of  the  ceaseless  striving  after  the  ideally  true  and 
beautiful,  next  to  none.  But,  instead  of  that,  we  have 
ever  possessed  the  great  secret  of  attaining  practical 
success  in  what  we  soberly  undertook  ;  the  wisdom  of 
common-sense,  thoroughly  consistent  wdth  genius, 
has  ever  been  ours  in  a  pre-eminent  degree. 

Darwin — perhaps  the  most  typical  EngUshman 
of   the  century— of    all  others,   might    have    been 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE, 


23 


justified  in  conjuring  up  imaginary  pictures  of  the 
past  and  evolving  ideals  for  the  future ;  yet  he 
remains  satisfied  with  the  positive — not  to  say  nega- 
tive— results  of  his  researches,  and  leaves  ideal 
speculation  to  others. 

It  has  been  reserved  for  the  Germans,  and  notably 
for  Prof.  Haeckel,  of  Jena,  to  speculate  where 
Darwin  had  been  content  to  lilean  facts. 

Thus,  German  idealism — in  this  instance  reveal- 
ing itself  in  materialistic  speculation — tells  us  what 
we  "  might  "  attain,  whilst  our  want  of  idealism  is 
perhaps  the  cause  of  what  we  "  liave  "  achieved. 

But  idealism  does  far  more  than  this.  It  in- 
stinctively bids  us  feel  that  knovvledge  of  every  kind 
is  power  to  be  used  for  a  high  purpose.  It  em- 
bodies the  highest  aspirations  of  genius,  and  is  the 
key  to  the  full  understanding  of  its  loftiest  flights. 
It  is,  strange  to  say,  almost  a  monopoly  of  the 
German  race  ;  in  fact,  the  people  who  are  most  near 
to  them,  such  as  the  Dutch,  notably  lack  it.  It  is 
true,  idealism  has  often  spelt  failure  and  reminded 
us  of  Ikaros  with  the  waxen  wings.  And  yet  the 
restless  striving  after  an — often  unattainable — ideal 
is  at  the  root  of  some  of  the  greatest  thoughts 
of  the  Teutonic  muse,  of  German  science,  as  well 
as  of  some  of  the  best  manifestations  of  German 
character. 

In  science,  the  idealizing  principle  is  perhaps  more 
active  than  anywhere  else.  It  supplies  initiative 
impulse,  the  interest  of  new  colours  and  of  know- 
ledge touched  with  wonder.  The  spectrum  analysis 
is  only  one  of  many  illustrations.     The  most  amazing 


i  > 


w 


■\ 


pi 
'  1^ 


\ 


24 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


invention  of  the  century — the  spectroscope— ^is  the 
work  of  two  Germans,  Bunsen  and  Kirchhoff. 

German  idealism  places  science  on  so  high  a 
pedestal  that  money-making  by  its  votaries  is 
looked  upon  as  almost  degrading.*  In  practical 
England,  the  more  money  a  man  of  science  can 
make  the  more  we  think  of  him.  We  are  more  apt 
to  worship  outward  success  in  a  thing  than  the 
thing  itself.  Hence,  we  are  more  liable  to  accept 
charlatans  than  the  Germans,  and  science  lacks 
with  us  the  true  spiritual  dignity  it  possesses  in 
Germany.  Faraday — in  this  a  rare  exception — 
held  up  a  tradition  which,  alas  !  has  had  no  fol- 
lowers. The  simple,  even  humble,  life  that  eminent 
men  of  science  often  lead  in  Germany  would  seem 
astonishing  to  us,  who  are  accustomed  to  see  men 
of  science  made  social  lions  of. 


*  Those  organs  of  public  opinion  both  here  and  abroad  which 
have  taken  part  in  a  recent  controversy,  and  in  so  doing  have 
spoken  disparagingly  of  German  men  of  science,  have  hardly 
shown  a  deep  insight  into  their  leading  characteristics.  They 
are  a  sensitive  body  of  men,  not  devoid  of  pedantry,  and  one 
individual  is  no  sufficient  measure  to  judge  them  by ;  but  when 
the  consensus  of  their  action  is  taken,  it  may  safely  be  said  to  be 
above  suspicion  of  motive.  For,  generally  speaking,  though 
doubtless  exceptions  will  be  found  here  as  elsewhere,  Germany's 
leading  scientific  men  are  of  a  stamp  that  would  not  jeopardize 
the  sincerity  of  their  conviction  for  any  worldly  advantage 
whatsoever. 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE, 


25 


11. 

Though  many  are  of  opinion  that  the  Fine  Ai'ts 
and  Belles-lettres  in  Germany  are  to-day,  with  few 
exceptions,  represented  merely  by  a  number  of 
talented  epigones,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the 
array  of  great  names  in  the  domains  of  science.* 
Here  we  are  met  by  capacities  of  the  very  hrst 
rank,  and  that  in  almost  every  branch.  To  pick 
out  a  few  names  at  random  :  We  have  already  re- 
ferred to  Bunsen  and  Kirchhoff,  who  conclusively 
proved  the  existence  of  terrestrial  matter  in  the  sun. 
To  Prof.  Helmholz  Germany  owes  the  discovery  of 
the  laryngoscope,  as  also  the  ophthalmoscope,  which 
latter  has  revolutionized  ophthalmic  medicine,  be- 
sides his  wonderful  discoveries  relatinor  to  the  natural 

o 

laws  that  govern  acoustics,,  not  to  forget  his  philo- 
so]3hical  works.  The  discoveries  of  salicylic  acid, 
cocaine,  and,  latest  of  all,  saccharine,  must  be  credited 
to  German  science  of  to-day. 

In   Prof.  Virchow  Germany  has   not  only  one  of 


i 


\ 


*  The  following  is  from  the  pen  of  an  American  authority  on 
the  state  of  science  in  Germany  in  the  present  day  : — **  Three 
countries  divide  the  scientific  world  between  them — Germany, 
England,  and  France.  The  writings  of  each  bear  the  stamp  of 
their  special  character  and  qualities.  Germany  to-day  is  at  the 
head  of  the  scientific  world.  At  the  beginning  of  the  century  it 
was  France,  but  German  influence  is  now  greater  than  ever 
that  of  France  was.  The  students  that  used  to  go  to  Paris  now 
go  to  Germany.  They  come  back  imbued  with  German  doctrines, 
and  with  but  one  aim,  that  of  propagating  and  following  these 
doctrines  out.  Thus  they  have  spread  all  over  the  world,  and 
have  become  accepted  by  nearly  every  European  country,"  &c.  &c. 


26 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


■ 


«l 


the  most  eminent  anthropologists  of  our  time,  but 
a  physiologist  of  unique  standing. 

In  surgery  the  names  of  Langenheck  (Berlin), 
Billroth  (Vienna),  ISTussbaum  (Munich),  Scanzoni 
(Wurzburg),  Esmarch  (Kiel),  speak  for  themselves. 

In  political  science  the  names  of  Prof.  Wind- 
scheidt  (Leipsic),  Prof.  Gneist  (Berlin),  Dr.  von 
Holtzendorf  (Munich),  are  of  cosmopolitan  renown, 
as  may  also  be  said  of  the  two  eminent  statisticians, 
Dr.  Ernst  Engel  and  Laspeyres. 

In  history  Mommsen  is  still  living  to  carry  on 
those  earnest  researches  connected  with  the  name  of 
his  late  compeer  and  master,  Leopold  von  Ranke. 

In  geology  the  names  of  Prof.  Zirkel  (Leipsic) 
and  Prof.  Eosenbusch  (Heidelberg)  are  as  highly 
esteemed  as  that  of  G.  von  Richthofen  (Berlin)  is 
in  geography. 

In  speculative  science  and  metaphysics  men  such 
as  Eduard  von  Hartmann  (of  the  pessimistic  school, 
and  a  follower  of  Schopenhauer),  iVIoritz  Carriere 
(the  champion  of  the  so-called  realistic  ideal  school), 
are  eminently  representative,  and  their  infhience  is 
largely  felt  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  Fatherland. 

Although  it  is  beyond  our  purpose  to  do  more 
than  mention  a  few  of  the  representative  men  of 
Germany  to-day,  there  is  one  reflection  we  cannot 
suppress,  and  that  is  that  almost  all  the  above-men- 
tioned eminent  men  are  serving  the  State  in  some 
public  capacity  or  other — hardly  one  of  Germany's 
great  scientific  names  that  is  not  drawn  away  from 
the  drudgery  of  mere  money -making  and  installed 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE. 


27 


in  some  position  most  fitted  to  enable  him  to  spread 
and  propagate  the  fruits  of  his  genius. 


I  i 


IIL 

In  literature  the  greatest  w^orks  of  Lessing, 
Herder,  Goethe,  and  Schiller  show  signs  of  a  rest- 
less craving  to  find  a  higher  and  nobler  channel  for 
expressing  their  ideas.  Literature  was  to  these 
men  a  medium  of  conveying  philosopliy  under  plea- 
sant and  even  playful  forms.  All  had  one  end  in 
view — to  strike  a  chord  of  broad  common  conscious- 
ness. 

Herder  was  one  of  the  most  egotistically  ideal  of 
men  in  native  constitution,  yet  we  see  him  for  years 
sacrificing  his  original  powers  of  production  to  col- 
lecting the  "  Volkslieder "  of  his  own  and  other 
nations,  because  his  egotism  was  subdued  by  an 
intellectual  German  sense  of  the  common  interests 
in  life,  which  should  be  reflected  in  song  and  story. 

Lessing,  indeed,  always  jirotested  that  he  was  no 
poet,  and  that  they  made  a  mistake  in  calling  him 
one  ;  that  he  was  merely  a  poor  philosophical  critic, 
seeking  the  best  channel  to  communicate  his  ideas, 
which  he  found  in  the  drama.  Thus,  his  "  Xathan 
the  Wise "  is  still  the  most  eloquent  appeal  in 
favour  of  tolerance. 

The  correspondence  between  Goethe  and  Schiller 
proves  how  much  tlieir  individual  bent  in  tliis  re- 
spect was  at  one  with  the  lessons  of  their  greater 
works  ;  the  discipline  of  a  high  ideal  was  to  be 
found  in  its  application  in  the   commonest  things. 


I  ; 


I      '^ 


28 


I 


);  /\  M  " 


Ell 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


**  Wilhelm  Meister,"  in  its  first  aspect,  seems  the 
most  ideal  of  books,  and  yet  in  its  second  part  it 
passes  into  a  glorification  of  ordinary  domestic  life 
and  duty.  Still  more  so,  and  still  more  surprising, 
is  the  fact  that  Faust,  after  all  his  dreams  and 
aspirations,  has  to  become  a  reclaimer  of  land  and  a 
roadmaker,  and  in  this  to  find  the  way  of  his  sal- 
vation— contentment  and  peace. 

N^o  men  of  equal  eminence  were  ever  so  little 
pleased  with  their  efforts  as  Goethe  and  Schiller, 
for  the  picture  of  something  still  higher  was  con- 
stantly before  them  to  make  them  dissatisfied  with 
their  attempts  to  reach  it  and  urge  them  on  to 
greater  efforts.  This  peculiarity  of  the  German 
mind  strikes  us  the  more  when  w^e  recall  Shak- 
speare,  whose  stupendous  genius  apparently  seems 
to  have  thrown  off  its  innnortal  products  almost 
unconsciously. 

According  to  Friedrich  Bodenstedt,  the  eminent 
German  poet  and  translator  of  Shakspeare,  the 
dramatic  poetry  of  his  country  cannot  compare  in 
originality  with  that  of  our  own.  But  German 
literature  can  boast  of  a  specially  which,  though 
far  from  original,  is  yet  unique  and  of  far-reaching 
importance  as  a  means  of  culture. 

We  mean  the  splendid  array  of  literary  men,  who 
have  devoted  their  whole  life's  work  to  the  trans- 
lation of  the  masterpieces  of  foreign  literature  into 
German.  Their  name  is  legion,  and  men  among 
them,  such  as  Tieck,  the  two  Schlegels,  Voss,  and 
Bodenstedt  himself,  can  be  said  to  have  contributed 
more  to  the  culture  of  the  people  by  their  trans- 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE, 


29 


lations  than  many  well-known  names  by  their 
original  productions.  Even  a  monarch  ranks  among 
their  number  ;  the  late  King  John  of  Saxony  trans- 
lated Dante.  No  country  can  compare  with  Ger- 
many in  its  array  of  literary  talent,  which,  led  by 
true  idealism  to  open  up  new  channels  of  literary 
wealth  to  the  nation,  devoted  its  labour  in  unselfish 
earnestness  to  the  comparatively  thankless  task  of 
reproduction. 

IV. 

In  the  present  time  other  elements  and  a  more 
cosmopolitan  run  of  public  taste  have  put  their 
stamp  on  the  literary  productions  of  the  day. 

Thus,  in  Berlin,  a  man  such  as  Paul  Lindau, 
attracts  our  attention  beyond  all  comparison  to  the 
literary  value  of  his  work,  for  his  popularity  is  a 
distinct  sign  of  the  times. 

Figuratively  speaking.  Teuton  stomachs  were 
satiated  and  German  brains  were  weary  of  the  long- 
winded  discursive  novel  of  the  first  half  of  the 
century,  dragging  its  tape-worm  existence  through 
eight  or  ten  volumes,  and  had  long  sought  refuge 
in  excellent  translations  of  Walter  Scott,  Bulwer 
Lytton,  Dickens,  and  other  English  writers. 

Other  branches  of  literature,  too,  suffered  from 
heaviness  of  style  when,  about  the  time  of  the 
new  order  of  things,  Paul  Lindau  came  to  the 
front  in  I5erlin  and  offered  the  public  a  taste  of 
the  bright,  concise,  and  yet  liglit  style  of  narra- 
tive and  essay  which  France  and  England  have  long 
been  familiar  with.     And  the  good   Berliners,  who 


f 


;  I 


\ 


so 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


!? 


It 


had  long  chafed  under  the  bit  of  cumbersome  philo- 
sophizing a  la  Scheiling  and  Hegel,  gladly  welcomed 
the  sparkling  wit  of  the  young  barrister. 

In  this  direction  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
Lindau  has  not  only  done  good  work,  but  has  almost 
founded  a  style  of  literature  in  which  Germany  had 
hitherto  been  lamentably  deficient.  It  is  in  part 
his  doing  if  we  can  no  longer  with  justice  smile 
at  the  unvarying  "  ponderosity  "  of  German  letters. 
Of  course,  such  masters  of  sparkling  German  prose 
as  Heine,  Schopenhauer,  Borne,  David  Strauss,  and 
Johannes  Scherr  had  preceded  and  influenced  the 
public  far  more,  even  by  the  mere  form  of  their  pro- 
ductions. Still,  the  fact  remains  that,  of  living  German 
writers,  Paul  Lindau  has  perhaps  most  largely  con- 
tributed to  give  a  more  airy  and  crisp  tone  to  the 
literature  of  the  day. 

The  same  favourable  verdict  cannot  be  given  if 
we  examine  his  dramatic  works,  which,  inspired  by 
French  or  Spanisli  models,  are  neither  French  nor 
German  in  sentiment,  and  have  only  had  ephemeral, 
if  not  questionable,  success. 

Again,  in  his  predilection  for  the  more  realistic 
school  of  French  novel-writers,  Lindau  can  hardly 
be  said  to  have  exercised  a  favourable  influence. 

In  Gustav  Freytag  we  name  the  most  gifted  and 
sterling  of  all  German  writers  of  fiction  of  the 
present  day.  He  is  the  portrayer  of  German  life 
;par  excellence,  not  only  in  the  present,  but  in  the 
past,  and  that  with  an  unrivalled  power  and  truth  of 
interpretation.  Freytag's  is  the  genius  of  the  true 
born  romancist  allied  to  the  conscientious  thoroucrh- 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE. 


31 


ness  of  the  German  Professor  without  his  pedantry. 
He  has  never  lent  his  pen  to  pander  to  the  sen- 
timent of  the  hour,  and  is  looked  up  to  and  ad- 
mired by  high  and  humble  alike.  Quite  recently 
the  late  Emperor  William  conferred  on  him  the 
highest  distinction — the  order  "  pour  le  merite,"  the 
same  order  Thomas  Carlyle  was  proud  to  accept 
although  he  refused  the  Grand  Cross  of  the  Bath. 

Paul  Heyse  as  a  poet,  a  novel-writer,  and  dramatist 
occupies  a  very  prominent  position  in  the  literary 
world.  A  born  poet,  he  strongly  inclines  towards 
the  sentimental — not  to  say  hyper-sentimental. 
Starting  as  a  novelist  at  an  early  age,  he  at  once 
became  the  favourite  of  German  womankind.  His 
descriptive  power  is  Southern  in  its  luxurious 
richness  and  dreaminess ;  but,  unfortunately,  most 
of  his  tales — for  he  is  a  story-teller  more  than 
a  novel-writer  (Germans,  in  their  thoroughness, 
making  a  great  distinction  between  the  two) — show 
a  want  of  manly  ruggedness  in  conception  and 
execution.  That  is  doubtless  the  reason  his  dramatic 
works  liave  hitherto  only  had  a  succes  cVestime. 
Some  of  his  lyric  poems  are  remarkable  for  their 
beauty  of  sentiment  and  diction. 

Prof.  Ebers  is  another  typical  figure  in  litera- 
ture, and  his  success  has  been  largely  due  to  his 
appeal  to  that  instinct  which  loves  to  idealize  the 
history  of  the  far  removed  past  which  is  so  strong 
in  the  German  character.  Prof.  Ebers  is  an 
eminent  scientific  Egyptologist,  and  his  novels, 
weaving  historical  matter  into  the  form  of  narrative 
romance,  have    not    only   found    countless    readers 


ij; 


^ 


I 


32 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


in  Germany,  but  they  have  been  widely  read  in 
English  and  other  translations. 

Writers  such  as  Felix  Dahn  and  Spiel  hagen  have 
great  names,  but  call  less  for  notice  on  the  score  of 
representativeness  of  character. 

Of  female  novelists  the  number,  as  with  us,  is 
legion,  and  great  are  the  differences  of  opinion  as  to 
the  literary  value  of  their  productions.  For  our  pur- 
pose it  may  suffice  to  point  to  one  of  the  youngest, 
if  not  the  most  promising,  who  writes  under  the 
pseudonym  of  Ossip  Scliubin.  She  describes  the 
life  of  the  aristocracy  and  the  more  cultured  classes 
with  an  analysis  of  character  almost  Thackeray  an. 
She  is  evidently  a  woman  who  lives  much  in  society, 
and  the  characters  she  describes  are  said  to  be  so 
true  to  life  as  to  be  easily  recognizable  by  those  who 
are  acquainted  with  the  circles  she  moves  in.  Ossip 
Schubin's  novels  are  also  remarkable  for  their  bold- 
ness of  conception  and  for  their  ingenious  plots. 

Friedrich  Bodenstedt  is  not  only  a  dramatic  poet 
of  signal  culture  and  power,  but  is  best  known  by  a 
somewhat  exceptional  feat  in  the  history  of  litera- 
ture. He  lived  for  many  years  in  the  East,  and 
besides  a  fascinating  account  of  life  in  Asia  Minor, 
entitled  *'  A  Thousand  and  One  Days  in  the  East," 
he  published  a  collection  of  exquisite  lyric  poems 
under  the  title  of  ''  The  Songs  of  Mirza  Schaffy."  It 
would  lead  us  too  far  to  dwell  on  the  excellence  of 
this  unique  volume  ;  suffice  it  to  say  that  it  was 
published  under  circumstances  which  left  the  impres- 
sion that  the  poems  were  nothing  more  than  transla- 
tions of  original  Oriental  poetry,  such  as  the  "  Songs 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE. 


ZZ 


of  Hafiz  "  and  others.  This  impression  was  the  more 
likely  to  gain  ground  from  the  fact  of  Bodenstedt's 
recognized  position  as  a  translator  of  Shakspeare. 
However,  such  was  not  the  case  ;  the  work  is  entirely 
■original.  "  The  Songs  of  Mirza  Schafiy  "  have  run 
through  more  than  one  hundred  editions,  and  are 
destined  to  remain  a  lastino;  monument  of  Boden- 


stedt's  genius. 


V. 


In  dramatic  literature,  although  its  critics  con- 
tinually rail  against  the  shallow  taste  of  the  day 
(as  they  have  done  at  all  times),  CJermany  possesses 
a  long  list  of  names,  which,  if  hardly  in  one  instance 
equal  to  the  best  dramatic  writers  of  France,  are 
yet  far  above  any  single  one  we  could  put  forward 
among  our  own  living  authors. 

Ernst  von  Wildenbruch  is  a  dramatic  author  of 
great  depth  and  power.  In  him  the  German  ideal 
romantic  tendency  is  very  strong,  but,  unfortunately 
(as  is  so  often  the  case  with  German  writers),  his 
characters  lose  themselves  completely  in  philosophic 
concentration  at  the  expense  of  the  action  of  the 
play. 

Arthur  Fitger  is  another  writer  of  great  dramatic 
force  and  originality ;  his  tragedy  "  Die  Hexe  "  (The 
Witch)  is  a  play  of  classic  dimensions,  and  deals 
with  the  religious  intolerance  of  past  ages. 

Eichard  Voss,  Oscar  Blumenthal,  L'Arronge, 
Franz  von  Schonthan,  and  Hugo  Lubbliner,  although 
scarcely  typical  enough  to  call  for  special  note,  are 
jet  original  and  fertile  writers  of  a  high  order  of 

1> 


I 


34 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE 


35 


merit,  and  many  of  their  plays  have  been  honoured 
by  translation  and  adaptation. 

Giistav  von  Moser  is  typically  representative  of 
a  light  and  airy  dramatic  style,  unembarrassed  by 
heavy  ethical  aims,  and  yet  far  removed  from 
pruriency,  the  former  cjualities  being  at  all  times- 
rarx  axes  in  German  liLerature.  He  is  entirely 
original  both  in  his  workmanship  and  in  the  char- 
acters he  has  drawn.  The  latter  are  taken  from 
life,  and  include  almost  every  type  to  be  met  with, 
from  the  Prussian  martinet  general  down  to  the 
boots  at  a  country  inn.  Xot  only  do  his  plays 
enjoy  an  unprecedented  popularity  in  Germany,  but 
some  of  them  have  been  even  more  successful  in 
other  countries,  and  made  large  fortunes  for  English 
and  American  theatre  proprietors. 

Last,  but  not  least,  Anzengruber,  although  an 
Austrian,  must  be  classed  among  eminent  German 
writers,  the  more  so  as  his  works  are  tyi)ically 
German  in  character.  Not  only  in  his  stories,  but 
in  dramatic  works  of  great  originality  and  power, 
he  has  faithfully  described  humble  and  peasant  life. 
More  than  that,  many  of  his  narrative  works  possess 
a  special  interest  from  their  dealing  with  the  social 
questions  of  the  day  in  a  broad  and  heartfelt  spirit. 

YI. 

In  philosophy  we  find  again  the  ideal  in- 
fluence present,  notably  in  the  works  of  Schelling 
and  He^el,  whose  endeavour  to  solve  the  dread 
secrets  that  surround  us  was  so  strongly  mingled 
with  the  desire  to  find  a  solution  which  accorded 


most  with  their  ideal  of  the  beautiful.  But  as  the 
human  mind  seems  doomed  to  failure  before  tliese 
master-problems,  so  also  the  philosophy  of  Heoel 
and  Schelling  has  but  remained  as  a  monument  of 
liow  unavailable  idealism  alone  is  to  solve  them. 

Since  Immanuel  Kant  spoke  his  last  word^  and 
wedded  ideality  with  the  stern  duty  of  ethics,  no  one 
has  been   able  to  add  to  it.      His    dictum    of    the  I 
"  categorical  imperative,"  the  call  of  duty  on  us  all  to  1 
regulate  our  race  towards  the  unattainable,  remains 
to-day  the  key-note    of    German    intellectual    and  ( 
ethical  life.      In  fact,  it  is  impossible  to  study  the 
ethical   and   intellectual   life    of    Germany    without 
being  impressed   by  the   vast   influence   which   the 
teaching   of  tlie  Konigsberg  philosopher  still  exer- 
cises   over  its  best  minds,   and   through  them   has 
gradually  sifted  into  the  masses,  almost  unconsciously 
to    them.      Even   the   sublime   thoughts  of  Goethe, 
and  in  our  day  the  speculations  which  the  Germans 
draw  from  the  researches  of  Darwin,  seem  only  to 
have  intensified  the  influence  of  Kant.      It  seems  as 
if,  in  a  sea  of  conflicting  speculation,  the  intellect  of 
the  nation   were  forced  to  turn  back  to  that  strono- 
courageous  brain,  who  said  in  effect : — 

"  We  are  unable  to  pierce  the  past,  the  future  is 
hidden  from  us,  but  the  categorical  imperative 
call  of  duty  to  be  performed  stares  us  in  the  face — 
the  obligation  of  one  and  all  of  us  to  do  our  share, 
and  to  live  up  to  the  highest  ethical  and  a3sthetical 
standard  we  can  formulate,  without  regard  to  re- 
ward or  punishment,  and  before  the  worship  of  every 
other  ideal." 

D  2 


36 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


VII. 


Thus  we  find  the  sense  of  duty  meeting  us  every- 
where in  Germany  in  a  strength  hardly  realized  by 
other  countries.  The  narrow-minded  selfishness  of 
the  individual,  the  jealousy,  the  envy  of  the  unit, 
shrinks  aside  before  the  supreme  spirit  of  altruistic 
virtue  embodied  in  this  acceptation  of  the  supremacy 
of  duty. 

Prof.  Billroth — perhaps  the  greatest  living  sur- 
geon— in  his  recent  illness  was  given  up,  and,  call- 
ing his  younger  colleagues  around  him,  said :  "  We 
doctors  mustn't  deceive  ourselves  with  regard  to  an 
illness.  We  are  familiar  with  death  ;  I  more  than 
you,  for  I  am  nearer  to  it.  I  asked  you  to  come 
here  in  order  to  say  good-bye  to  you.  Who  knows 
whether  to-morrow  I  shall  be  able  to  do  so  ?  I 
thank  you  all  for  your  labours ;  remain  faithful  to 
science ;  devote  yourself  to  it  as  hitherto." 

This  reference  to  duty — this  key-note  struck  in 
the  supreme  moment,  with  an  entire  forgetf ulness  of 
meaner  self — is  one  that  finds  an  echo  right  through 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Fatherland  in  the 
hearts  of  the  large  majority  of  its  best  and  noblest 
sons.  It  even  conveys  a  lesson  to  us  all  in  these 
latter  days  when  many  are  groping  their  way  to  find 
an  ethical  standard  to  live  by ;  for,  according  to  a 
recent  writer,  "  such  knowledge  of  God  as  He  has 
vouchsafed  to  us  is  revealed  to  us  by  our  perception 
of  causation  and  our  idea  of  duty."* 


*  Article  entitled  "  Sins  of  Belief  and  Sins  of  Unbelief,"  by 
St.  George  Mivart,  in  the  Nineteenth  Century y  October  1888. 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE. 


37 


' 


Yet  men  like  Billroth — and  he  is  a  representative 
^yP^ — ^^'6  i^ot  melancholy  psalm-singers,  who  walk 
througli  life  crushed  with  the  oppressive  weight  of 
a  dread  ordeal  ever  staring  them  in  the  face.  Far 
from  it.  Billroth  in  private  life  is  an  accomplished 
musician  and  painter.  And  this  recalls  another 
striking  feature  of  German  intellectual  life :  its 
affinity  to  the  spirit  of  ancient  Greece,  the  people  of 
whicli  were  so  gifted  in  beautifying  the  life  they 
led. 


YIII. 

In  politics — that  one  science  people  everywhere 
take  to  without  a  question  as  to  knowledge  or  fit- 
ness— German  idealism  has  counted  its  saddest 
failures.  Notably  was  this  so  when,  in  the  hope- 
less attempt  to  evolve  a  system  that  would  help  the 
Fatherland,  it  was  driven  to  seek  models  abroad,  and, 
above  all,  to  fall  in  love  with  our  method  of  par- 
liamentary government !  Luckily,  the  man  of  the 
hour  put  an  end  to  that  when  he  told  his  country- 
men, "  No,  gentlemen ;  only  with  blood  and  iron 
shall  we  get  what  we  are  all  striving  for — a  great 
united  Fatherland."  In  the  Emperor  William  and 
in  Bismarck  we  find,  for  the  first  time  in  Germany, 
the  national  tendency  to  idealize  allied  to  the  rugged 
common-sense  of  action,  and  the  result  has  been  the 
fulfilment  of  a  national  dream  that  wanted  this  rare 
union  of  qualities  to  find  its  realization.  It  was 
the  ideality  of  a  great  aim,  nurtured  in  youth,  that 
nerved  the   late  Emperor  William  in  those  weary 


38 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


years  of  struggle,  and  enabled  him  to  organize  his 
army  and  strike  in  at  last  with  the  popular  longing 
for  unity.  It  was  this  trait  in  his  character  that 
enabled  him  to  feel  its  echo  in  the  hearts  of  the 
nation,  and  to  build  up  the  national  edifice. 

But,  whilst  dwelling  on  the  results  achieved  in 
the  present  day,  it  is  but  just  to  refer  to  that  high- 
mindedness,  even  among  German  politicians  of  the 
past,  that  did  so  much  to  make  what  has  come 
to  pass  possible.  In  connection  with  this  we  can- 
not resist  the  temptation  of  translating  a  letter  of 
General  Gneisenau  to  his  King,  Frederick  William 
III.,  in  the  year  1 8 1 1  : — 

"  In  my  saying  this,  your  Majesty  will  again  hold 
me  guilty  of  poetry,  and  I  will  gladly  own  the 
impeachment.  For  religion,  prayer,  the  love  for  our 
Sovereign,  for  our  country,  are  nothing  but  poetry;  no 
elevation  of  the  heart  without  the  sentiment  of  poetry. 

"  He  who  acts  according  to  cool  calculation  must 
become  a  confirmed  egotist. 

"  The  safety  of  the  throne  is  based  on  poetry. 
How  many  of  us  who  look  up  wuth  sadness  to  the 
tottering  throne  might  find  a  happy  and  peaceful 
position  in  modest  retirement,  some  even  a  life  of 
luxury  and  ease,  if,  instead  of  feeling,  he  only  washed 
to  calculate.  Any  master  would  suit  him  equally 
well,  but  the  ties  of  birth,  of  devotion,  of  gratitude, 
hatred  against  the  foreign  invaders,  attacii  him  to 
his  old  master ;  for  his  sake  he  will  live  or  die,  for 
his  sake  he  resigns  his  family  happiness,  for  his  sake 
he  w^ill  sacrifice  life  and  property  unto  the  uncer- 
tainty of  hope. 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE, 


39 


"This  is  poetry;  yes,  even  of  the  truest  kind. 
Under  its  inliuence  I  will  endeavour  to  buoy  myself 
lip  as  long  as  I  live,  and  I  will  look  upon  it  as  an 
honour  to  belong  to  that  enthusiastic  band  ready  to 
surrender  everything  in  order  to  regain  all  for  your 
Majesty.  For  truly  such  a  resolve  must  be  born  of 
^n  enthusiasm  that  scorns  every  selfish  consideration. 
Many  are  there  who  think  thus,  and,  conscious  as  I 
am  of  my  incompetence  in  comparison,  I  will  en- 
deavour to  act  in  their  spirit." 

Such  is  an  instance  of  German  poetic  idealism.. 
To  it  we  owe  some  of  the  most  sympathetic  traits  of 
■character  in  modern  German  annals.  It  is  notably 
present  in  some  of  the  well-known  friendships  of 
Gfreat  men :  in  the  communion  of  minds  ever  so  free 
from  envy  of  Luther  and  ]\Ielanchthon,  of  Scliarn- 
horst  and  Stein,  of  Lliicher  and  Gneisenau.  In 
letters,  in  Goetlie  and  Schiller,  the  two  Schlegels, 
the  two  Grimms  ;  and  in  science,  the  two  Humboldts. 
In  our  time,  most  glorious  instance  of  all,  in  the 
Emperor  William  with  his  great  paladins,  Bismarck, 
Yon  Eoon,  and  Moltke. 

It  is  this  ideal  Germany  that  gained  the  ad- 
miration, the  enthusiasm,  of  Carlyle — tlie  dreami- 
ness of  high-souled  poetry  allied  to  the  moral  and 
nervous  strenG:th  for  action. 


"i 


IX. 

If  it  be  permissible  to  think  that  the  English,  by 
their  love  of  sport,  of  outdoor  exercise  and  games, 
.by  their  cultivation  of  body  generally,  carry  on  the 


40 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


11 


physical  traditions  of  ancient  Greece,  so  we  may  sa^ 
the  Germans  in  some  measure  represent  the  Greek 
element  in  an  intellectual  as  well  as  in  an  ethical 
sense. 

An  influence,  if  not  directly  derived  from,  yet 
distinctly  akin  to  that  of  Greece,  is  traceable,  not 
only  in  German  thought,  in  literature,  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  fine  arts,  but  also  in  the  general  spiritual 
acceptation  of  life.  It  is  embodied  in  the  ethical 
and  aesthetic  feeling  of  the  people.  Even  their 
language  has  many  affinities  with  that  of  the  Greeks,, 
as  is  proved  by  their  happy  renderings  of  Horner^ 
the  Greek  dramatists,  &c.  But  if  they  offer  us  these 
affinities  to  the  countrymen  of  Plato,  the  practical 
lesson  of  their  literature  and  philosophy — self-re- 
nunciation in  the  delights  of  the  ideal  in  the  one, 
and  Kant's  "  categorical  imperative  "  in  the  other — 
will  save  them  from  the  fate  of  the  Greeks. 

The  educated  classes  are  singularly  free  from 
religious  bigotry,  and,  in  fact,  even  outward  forms  of 
church  worship  are  much  less  practised  than  irk 
England.  The  Germans  say,  indeed,  that  in  our 
Hebraism  we  are  the  chosen  people — the  direct  suc- 
cessors of  the  ancient  Jews.  On  the  other  hand,  a. 
greater  amount  of  devotion  or  veneration  is  reserved 
for  application  to  secular  life.  It  shows  itself  in. 
veneration  for  the  fine  arts,  particularly  for  music 
and  the  drama,  which  are  regarded  in  a  far  more 
earnest  spirit  than  that  of  mere  amusement ;  par- 
ticularly the  drama  is  felt  to  be  a  means  of  culture. 
On  entering  one  of  the  many  Court  theatres  we 
are   strujck  by  ©\4dence  of  influences  at  work  un~ 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE, 


41 


known  elsewhere  in  our  time.  In  fact,  the  Court 
theatres  are  beacon  tow^ers  of  cTSthetic  light  in  the 
present  day.  For  even  if  the  frivolous  and  worthless 
show  their  heads,  the  aim  of  these  institutions  is  aii 
elevating,  and  not  a  mercenary  one. 

Whereas  with  us  the  care  of  the  theatres  is  left 
to  speculators,  who  are  controlled  by  a  fossilized 
official,  in  Germany  the  office  of  Administrator  of 
the  Eoyal  Theatres  is  almost  akin  to  a  subordinate 
Minister  of  Public  Education. 

One  of  the  reigning  German  Dukes  (Saxe- 
Meiningen)  has  devoted  himself  heart  and  soul  to 
the  stage,  and  even  married  an  accomplished  actress. 
Not  that  he  has  taken  to  the  stage  as  a  passing 
craze.  Far  from  it.  He  has  devoted  himself  to  it 
in  the  true  spirit  of  German  ideality.  He  is  his 
own  manager,  and  even  at  times  travels  with  his 
troupe,  doughty  man  of  war  as  he  proved  himself 
in  I  870,  and  looking  as  he  does  every  inch  a  soldier. 
The  Duke  has  set  his  face  against  the  "  star  "  system, 
which  was  fast  ruining  unity  of  purpose  in  the 
drama,  and  the  performances  of  the  Meiuingen 
troupe  to-day  are  models  of  what  the  complete  en- 
semhle  of  a  play  should  be.  Not  only  that ;  he  has. 
devoted  earnest  historical  research  to  the  subject  of 
costumes  and  "properties."  Thus  the  pieces  are 
not  only  mounted  on  a  scale  of  luxury  and  magni- 
ficence, but  above  all  with  greatest  possible  fidelity 
in  their  historical  aspects.  In  this  way  the  influence 
of  the  Duke  of  Meiningen  as  a  sta^je  reformer  has 
been  already  felt  far  and  wide,  and  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  if  an  educated  Englishman  wishes 


I 


42 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


to  see  tlie  masterpieces  of  Sliakspeare  adequately 
rendered,  lie  had  better  leave  his  native  shores  and 
take  a  railway  ticket  to  the  pretty  little  Thuringian 
town  of  Meinin<j;en. 

Not  that  the  excellence  of  this  model  stacre  of 
Meiningen  stands  alone.  Side  by  side  with  an  in- 
creasing materialism  in  the  drama  and  lov^e  of  the 
frivolous  and  sensational  of  late  years,  it  is  still 
possible  to  w^itness  the  masterpieces  of  the  classics 
•of  all  countries  in  many  towns  in  Germany. 

Only  lately  the  dramatic  poet  Wilbrandt  devoted 
his  term  of  administration  of  the  Vienna  Imperial 
Burgtheater  to  the  production  of  the  masterpieces 
of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  literature.  From  thence 
the  works  of  Lope  de  Vega,  Calderon,  Camoens,  and 
others  made  their  way  to  other  theatres  all  over  the 
country.  And  from  other  sources  the  same  can  be 
;said  of  the  works  of  the  Scandinavian  poets,  Henri k 
Ibsen  and  Bjovnson. 

X. 

It  is  this  culture — this  truly  classic  sentiment — 
that  is  fostered  from  the  stage  that  is  reflect<:Ml  in 
literature  and  manifests  itself  in  every  walk  of 
German  life.  It  often  strikes  us  as  revealiuG:  a 
relationship  to  an  ethical  creed  of  its  own.  It 
tends  to  strengthen  those  feelings  of  veneration  for 
the  best  and  highest  which  is  so  large  a  part  of 
•every  sense  of  religion — the  love  of  the  beautiful  of 
the  Greeks  allied  to  the  true  ethical  feelincf  of 
Christianity.  Its  result  is  the  so-called  "Gemliths- 
leben "   of    the    Germans,  an   untranslatable   term 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE, 


43 


which  siii^aiifies  "  the  life  of  heart  and  mind  com- 
bined."  In  its  manifestation  it  tells  us  that  what- 
ever individual  coarseness  of  manner  and  feeling  is 
to  be  found  in  the  Fatherland — and  there  is  enou2:h 
of  it — there  yet  dwells  a  spirit  in  their  midst  the 
possession  of  which  other  nations  might  well  envy. 

The  sentiment  of  piety  wdiich  we  are  accustomed 
only  to  seek  for  within  the  walls  of  churches  we 
find  present  in  the  every-day  life  of  the  nation. 
That  wdiich  finds  no  scope  in  dogmatic  casuistry 
seeks  an  outlet  in  events  of  public  and  private  life. 

The  public  festivals  of  the  nation  have  something 
truly  ethical  in  their  character.  The  celebrations  of 
important  national  events  have  a  grace  and  dignity 
peculiar  to  them  ;  the  commemorations  of  great  vic- 
tories have  nothing  boastful  or  vain-glorious  in  their 
character.* 

When  w^ar  was  declared  in  1S70,  the  inhabitants 
of  Berlin  in  tlieir  thousands  sang  patriotic  songs  and 
cheered  in  front  of  the  palace  of  their  King,  who 
came  to  the  historical  corner  window  again  and 
acfain  to  acknowledijre  their  ^reetini's.  At  last  one 
of  his  oHicers  came  out  and  said  to  the  people, 
"  Children,  the  King  must  work  with  his  staff  right 
througli  the  night,  and  begs  you  will  go  home  now, 
so  that  he  may  be  unditjturbed."  And,  as  if  by 
magic,  the  whole  vast  place  was  deserted. 

*  We  hear,  though  we  cannot  believe,  that  it  is  the  intention 
of  the  present  Emperor  to  discountenance  the  further  annual 
celebration  of  the  victory  of  Sedan.  AH  those  who  have  wit- 
nessed the  harmless,  simple  character  of  its  celebration — for  it 
is  mainly  a  school  festival — could  only  regret  such  a  decision. 


44 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


111*1 


Then,  again,  who  that  had  the  good  fortune  to 
witness  in  1871  the  triumphal  return  of  the  troops 
can  ever  forget  a  scene  as  impressive  as  it  was  free 
from  every  element  of  vain-gloriousness  and  vul- 
garity. 

When  the  old  Emperor  died,  and  shortly  after- 
wards his  noble  son,  were  not  all,  poor  and  rich 
alike,  admitted  to  look  at  them  in  death  once  more  ? 
And  w^hat  a  lesson  their  conduct  conveyed  ! 

Such  incidents  are  instructive  as  showing  us  the 
instincts  of  heart  and  mind  of  a  people.  In  fact, 
it  is  almost  necessary  for  a  foreigner  to  have  seen 
one  of  the  great  national  manifestations  of  feeling, 
such  as  the  above,  in  order  to  understand  the  sjiirit 
that  dwells  beneath  the  rough  outer  surface. 

Although  some  of  the  annual  church  festivals, 
such  as  Easter,  "Whitsuntide,  Christmas,  no  longer 
appeal  in  their  ecclesiastical  character  as  of  old,  yet 
they  are  kept  either  in  the  form  of  a  family  festival, 
such  as  Christmas,  or  in  the  open  air  in  their  re- 
lationship to  the  re-awakening  of  Xature,  as  in  the 
case  of  Easter  and  Whitsuntide.  At  Easter  and 
Whitsuntide  the  people  swarm  out  into  the  green 
fields,  not  to  drink  and  run  riot,  but  instinctively  to 
worship  God  in  the  contemplation  of  His  works,  so 
beautifully  described  by  Goethe  in  the  first  part 
of  "  Faust."  The  Germans  are  lovers  of  Nature  in  a 
sense  that  is  perhaps  only  met  with  among  the  Japan- 
ese, who  have  special  festivals  all  the  year  round 
whenever  certain  flowers  are  in  blossom — the  cherry, 
the  plum,  the  iris,  the  chrysanthemum,  and  the  sacred 
lotus :  it  is  part  of  their  religion. 


!iiii 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE, 


45 


In  the  care  the  Germans  bestow  on  the  graves 
of  their  dead,  and  in  their  affectionate  reverence, 
they  stand  pre-eminent,  particularly  evidenced  by  the 
beautiful  monuments  erected  all  over  the  Fatherland 
in  memory  of  their  brethren  fallen  in  battle.  He 
who  could  gaze  on  the  monument  on  the  Niederwald 
in  commemoration  of  1870-71  without  feeling  a 
thrill  of  piety  can  possess  little  Gemilth,  little  sense 
of  the  ideal,  to  whatever  nation  he  belongeth.  The 
German  words  for  cemetery— Friedhof,  "  The  court 
of  peace,"  GoUesacker,  "God's  acre  "—breathe  an  ideal 
sentiment  peculiar  to  the  nation.  Even  in  familiarly 
speaking  of  the  dead,  the  German  word  seli(/,  "  resting 
in  God,"  has  a  charm  of  its  own. 

In  this  as  in  many  other  ways  the  Germans  re- 
mind us  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  whereas  with  us  we 
can  only  regard  the  neglect  of  our  own  graves  in  the 
Crimea  and\t  Waterloo  with  a  feeling  of  shame. 

That  eminent  Scotch  thinker,  Fletcher  of  Sahoun, 
once  said,  "  If  I  may  make  the  songs  of  a  people, 
let  who  will  make  the  laws."  And  no  wonder,  for 
it  is  far  easier  to  promulgate  fifty  laws  than  to  make 
one  song  that  shall  reach  the  heart  of  the  people 
and  reflect  its  best  aspirations.  And  the  best  instincts 
of  the  German  people  are  embodied  in  their  songs  : 
their  ideality,  their  patriotism,  their  love  of  the 
beautiful,  their  intense  love  of  Nature,  and  even  in- 
directly their  very  history,  all  are  reflected  in  their 
"  Volkslieder  " — the  harmonious  blending  of  poetry 
and  song.  A  "Volkslied,"  as  distinct  from  an 
evanescent  popular  ditty,  is  not  made  in  the  ^  ordi- 
nary meaning  of  the  word ;  it  is  created  ;  its  origin  is 


3 


45 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


divine.  It  is  divine  in  the  sense  that  it  owes  its 
origin  to  that  siq3ernatural  instinct  in  us  which 
belies  our  meaner  nature,  and  bids  us  feel  that 
there  is  something  higher,  something  spiritual,  in 
store  for  us. 

XL 

Germany  is  the  country  of  the  inimitable  "  Yolks- 
lied,"  the  home  of  musicians  and  composers,  and  yet 
it  was  a  celebrated  German  author,  Karl  Gutzkow, 
who  penned  the  following  : — "  In  fact,  what  is  music 
tons,  these  mathematics  of  sound  ?'  In  great  musi- 
cians I  have  always  found  people  who,  althougli 
conversant  with  keys,  can  solve  nothing  for  us.  If 
listening  to  music  influences  me  to  believe  in  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul,  it  may  influence  others  at  the 
same  time  to  take  an  op]oosite  view.  ]N'o  ;  music 
will  cease  to  belong  to  the  highest  arts.  Does  it 
not  already  in  the  opera  approach  more  and  more 
to  mere  declamation  ?   .  .  .  ." 

The  following  remark  of  Herrmann  Presber,  the 
novel-writer,  is  even  more  scathing  : — "  Sound  {dcr 
Toii\  is  the  vibrating  soul.  But  vibrating  souls  are 
mostly  devoid  of  intellect.  Music  is  the  only  art 
in  which,  side  by  side  with  talent,  stupidity  gets  on 
cheerfully,  and  may  even  assert  itself  with  arrogance. 
Yes,  yes  !  Music  is  the  most  social  and  sociable  of 
the  arts.  It  is  only  a  question  who  is  able  to  feel 
at  home  long  in  purely  musical  society  ?  Only 
give  an  individual  the  high  C  and  the  low  C,  and 
he,  like  Philip  of  Macedon's  gold-laden  ass,  wiU , 
soon  penetrate  every  town  and  every  boudoir." 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE, 


47 


Strange  words  these  to  us  who  are  accustomed 
to  believe  that  a  want  of  the  appreciation  of  music 
betokens  a  want  of  heart.  But  in  some  things  we 
are  childlike  enthusiasts  compared  to  the  Germans, 
particularly  as  critics.  For  they,  even  when  carried 
away,  are  too  apt  to  stop  and  inquire  into  the 
psychical  causes  of  their  emotion. 

Thus,  not  against  music  itself,  but  against  the 
excess  of  its  cultivation,  to  the  exclusion  of  more 
important  matters,  many  sober  thinkers  in  Germany* 
have  been  raising  their  voices  of  late.  They  are  of 
opinion  that  excellent  as  undoubtedly  is  the  influ- 
ence of  music  in  itself,  its  excess  is  often  injurious, 
and  is  indulged  in  at  the  expense  of  the  develop- 
ment of  reading,  sound  thinking,  and  above  all  of 
high-mindedness.  They  know  by  daily  experience 
that  a  man  may  be  an  excellent  musician,  and  yet, 
in  every  other  particular,  a  fool.  More  than  that,, 
they  see  that  the  kingdom  of  Saxony,  the  home  of 
music  imr  excellence,  is  also  the  head-quarters  of  the 
German  Philistine  and  of  their  dread  spectre  Social 
Democracy.  In  Austria  tlie  music-gifted  Bohe- 
mians are  on  a  very  low  level  of  morality  and 
education ;  and  in  Yienna,  where  Beethoven  and 
Schubert  lived  and  died,  the  cultivation  of  music 
has  not,  according  to  all  accounts,  increased  the 
logical  powers  or  the  moral  perceptions  of  its  good 
inhabitants. 

Music  is  of  all  arts  the  one  that  appeals  most 


f 


{ 


*  111  France  similar  expressions  of  opinion  are  to  be  found — 
viz.,  "  Centre  la  Musique,"  par  Victor  de  Laprade  (i8Si). 


48 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


exclusively  to  the  senses,  and,  except  in  the  case 
of  its  higher  walks,  it  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  to 
the  ethical  advantage  of  the  community. 

Its  excess  is  distinctly  baneful  to  the  mental 
development  of  a  nation.  In  Hungary,  for  instance, 
the  cultivation  of  music  goes  hand  in  hand  with 
the  idleness  wliich  that  pleasure-loving  people  are 
noted  for.  Thus  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that 
^reat  and  petty  despots  have  ever  encouraged  it,  for 
.'uusic  kept  their  subjects  away  from  serious  think- 
ing. Music  has  ever  been  the  favourite  art  of 
oppressed  nationalities.  It  may  be  a  civilizing 
element— a  tamer  of  the  savage  breast— in  a  low 
order  of  things;  but  it  is  often  cultivated  in  an 
advanced  community  to  the  neglect  of  more  im- 
portant matter. 

The  record  of  the  lives  of  great  musicians  shows  a 
strange  medley  of  eccentricity  and  of  the  dominant 
effects  of  an  undue  excitability  of  the  nervous  system. 
Also  great  composers,  with  few  exceptions,  are  re- 
markably short-lived.  Liszt,  Verdi,  and  Eossini 
.are  the  exceptions  among  a  list  that  includes  such 
instances  of  short-lived  men  as  Mozart,  Schubert, 
Weber,  Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,  Chopin,  and  even 
Schumann,  whose  life  was  one  constant  misery  of 
nervous  depression. 

In  Germany  to-day  musicians  are  more  or  less  a 
class  by  themselves,  and  a  very  peculiar  genus  irrita- 
Mlc  they  often  represent.  For  if  even  creative  musical 
genius  shows  a  sad  record  of  mental  peculiarity,  it 
is  not  surprising  that  mere  executants  are  remark- 
able for  many  petty  manifestations  of  an  ill-balanced 
nervous  system. 


*  I 


INTELLECTUAL  LIFE. 


XII. 


49 


Germany   is   now  suffering  from   a   plethora    of 
music  and  musicians,*  and  yet  one  of  its  noblest 
specialities,  the  "  oratorio,"  t  and  one   of  the  most 
complete  musical  instruments,  the  organ,  are  much 
less  cultivated  than  with  us.    Against  that,  however, 
may  well  be  put  the  beautiful  church  music  of  the 
Catholics  and  the  impressive  vocal  chorals  of  Pro- 
testant    churches.       Also    the    "  Volkslied "— that 
uniciue  manifestation  of  the  national  love  for  poetry 
and  music  combined,  already   referred  to— may  be 
classified  as  one  of  the  highest  and  most  precious 
forms  of  music  in  Germany. 

Next  to  these  forms  of  music  that  touch  the  chord 
of  national  life  must  be  classified  the  splendid  and 
cheap  orchestral   concerts,  of  violin  quartetts,  male 
chorus  unions,  for  their  excellence  and  wide  diffusion 
are   beyond   comparison  with  those    of    any   other 
country.     Also  the  operas  of  lUchard  Wagner  have 
become  distinctly  national,  and  as  such  may  well  be 
said  to   belong   fittingly  to  the  period  of  national 
re-awakening  in  our  time.     The  operas   of   Wagner 
strike   a   strong  patriotic   Teutonic  key,   and    thus 
their  continued  performance  at  Bayreuth  is  wisely 
encouraged    by  the    Emperor.     Wagner's  standard 
operas  fill  the  theatres  from  stalls  to  gallery  all  over 
the  country  wherever  operatic  music  is  heard. 

"~*  Although  those  instruments  of  torture— street  bands  and 
organs— are  fortunately  abolished.  •        ^^^     ^^ 

t  Germany  does  not  possess  ;iny  musical  institutions  like  the 
Handel  Choir,  the  Bristol  Musical  Festival  Society,  or  those  of 

Worcester  and  Birmingham. 

E 


so 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


INTELLECTUAL   LIFE, 


51 


It  is  not  these  noble  forms  of  music  themselves 
that  pique  the  critical  pessimist — they  are  a  precious 
heirloom  of  national  genius  ;  it  is  the  over-addiction 
of  the  masses  to  fritter  away  their  time  and  to  dull 
their  energies  for  thought  in  running  after  every 
form  of  music,  and  also  the  dreadful  mania  for 
pianoforte-playing  that  exists  in  Germany.  It  lias 
been  well  pointed  out  that  the  pleasure-loving 
South  of  Germany  (including  Austria)  has  produced 
its  great  musicians,  whereas  the  North  must  be 
credited  with  its  thinkers.*  The  piano-playing 
mania,  however,  extends  from  the  North  Sea  down 
to  the  Alps ;  it  is  universal  and  omnipresent. 

In  Weimar  it  is  forbidden  to  play  the  piano  with 
the  window  open,  under  a  penalty  of  two  marks. 
And  no  wonder,  for  in  German  towns  every  floor  of 
a  house  harbours  at  least  one  familv  and  at  least 
one  piano,  not  to  mention  stringed  instruments  of 
torture. 

The  excellent  German  musicial  academies  {Musik- 
conservatorien)  were  originally  designed  to  train 
musicians  for  the  orchestra,  the  piano-playing  being 
looked  upon  as  a  secondary  branch  of  the  musical 
profession.  This  intention  has  been  partly  frustrated 
of  late,  as  we  find  on  comparing  the  numbers  of 
students  of  the  piano  wdth  those  of  other  instru- 


*  It  is  strange  to  note  the  great  number  of  hard  thinkers  that 
hail  from  the  North-east  of  Prussia — Im.  Kant,  Fichte,  and 
Schopenhauer,  also  Copernicus  and  Kepler ;  whereas  Germany's 
greatest  poets,  except  Heine,  almost  all  hail  from  the  South. 
Schiller,  Goethe,  Uhland,  Victor  von  Scheffel,  were  born  in  the 
South  of  Germany. 


ments.  Thus  at  the  academy  in  Vienna  in  the  year 
1880  there  were  400  pupils  in  piano-playing,  and 
of  these  350  were  girls,  most  of  whom  were  pre- 
sumably let  loose  on  the  community  as  piano  masters 
and  mistresses!  It  is  this  advent  of  the  female 
element  that  has  particularly  contributed  to  the  pre- 
sent craze  of  piano-playing.  It  has  conquered  the 
profession  of  music  in  Germany,  as  with  us  novel- 
writin^^  has  come  to  assert  its  sway. 

Yet°  even  in  music,  the  art  in  which  the  mind 
leans  over  to  ungraspable  sentiment  and  lends  ex- 
pression  to  the  emotions  in  greater  measure  than 
to  the  intellectual  faculties,  we  have  but  to  glance 
at   the    prose   writings    of    llobert    Schumann   and 
Richard  Wagner   in  order    to   note    dissatisfaction 
with'  the  whole  method  of  musical  expression  and 
aim  of  the  time.     We  observe  that  restless  and  yet 
ideal  striving  for  something  higher,  something  truer, 
as   the  motive-power    that   nerved    the    efforts    of 
these  two  monarchs  of  the  realms  of  sound.     Wag- 
ner's theatre  at   Bayreuth,   built  expressly  lor  the 
performance  of  his  musical  dramas,  was  the  last  and 
outward  embodiment  of  an  instinct  that  led  him  to 
seek  the  most   congenial  forms   in    the   models  of 
ancient    Greece.     His    genius  ransacked  the  folk- 
lore of  Scandinavia,  the  history  and  the   myths  of 
the   Middle  Ages,  only  to  And  its   last    spiritual 
expression   in  the  legends    of    early    Christianity, 
"Parsifal."     Of  living   German  composers   Eubm- 
stein  and  Brahms  are  too  well  known  to  need  com- 
ment      Also   Lassen   and  Franz  as   composers    of 
song  enjoy  great  popularity  in  the  Fatherland.     Of 

E  2 


« 


/  - 


I 


5: 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


(    53    ) 


operatic  composers  Goldmarck  and  Kretschiuer  may 
be  mentioned,  although  pubHc  opinion  does  not 
seem  to  have  yet  given  its  final  verdict  with  regard 
to  them — not  an  unusual  occurrence  in  the  musical 
world.  The  latter  is  said  to  show  the  influence  of 
Eichard  Wagner  in  a  very  marked  degree. 

The  great  past  supplies  us  with  a  splendid  record 
of  German  ideal  striving  in  music.  From  Bach's 
Passion-music  to  Handel's  oratorios,  the  idealiza- 
tion of  Christianity  is  the  golden  thread  that  runs 
through  their  work.  Mozart,  the  creator  of  the 
German  opera;  the  most  ideally  creative  of  all 
mighty  Beethoven,  who,  on  being  told  that  one  of 
his  combinations  of  harmony  was  not  allowable, 
replied,  "I  allow  it!" 


CHAPTEB  III. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

Now  'tis  the  spring,  and  weeds  are  shallow  rooted ; 

Suffer  them  now,  and  they'll  o'ergrow  the  garden, 

And  choke  the  herbs  for  want  of  husbandry 

^  Shakspeaue. 

I. 

If  the  schools  are  the  cradle,  the  universities  are 
the  training-^rouud  of  intellectual  life  in  Germany 
more  even  than  elsewhere.  There  the  national 
ideals  have  slumbered  on  through  times  of  devasta- 
ting war  and  misery,  in  order  to  awake  to  new  hfe 
with  the  returning  sunshine  of  peace.  ,     .  ,    , 

The  German  universities  have  at  all  tunes  cherished 
the  idea  of  national  unity  and  kept  it  alive  when  it 
had  been  lost  sight  of  almost  everywhere  else  In 
fact,  they  have  supplied  the  unpulse  that  has 
kept  the  current  of  patriotism  liealtluly  circulated 
when  without  them  stagnation  and  indifference 
might  have  prevailed.  This  great  fact  must  be 
borne  in  mind  as  a  set-off  against  some  of  the  sad 
political  pedantry  of  German  Professors. 

Thus,  l'>ismarck's  partiality  for  the  universities  is 
only  natural;  when,  on  the  occasion  of  his  seventieth 
birthday,    deputations    from    nineteen    universities 


I 


54 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


I 


greeted  him  witli  enthusiasm,  he  replied,  "  I  will 
gladly  die,  now  that  I  see  this  flower  of  youth  before 
me. 

The  realization  of  the  German  Empire  has  given 
an  extraordinary  impulse  to  university  life,  and 
to-day  it  can  be  said  with  more  truth  than  ever 
that  Germany  is  the  classic  land  of  universities. 
Elsewhere  may  be  found  special  schools  and  acade- 
mies that  present  exceptional  features  of  excellence, 
but  nowhere  can  universities  be  found  similar  to 
hers. 

There  are  twenty-two  universities  in  the  German 
Empire,  of  which  eleven  fall  to  Prussia  proper. 
These  twenty-two  universities  are  so  many  active 
centres  of  knowledge,  and  include  a  staff  of  two 
thousand  professors  and  of  over  twenty -eight 
thousand  students. 

The  following  remarks  on  the  spirit  that  pervades 
the  German  universities  of  to-day,  by  a  French 
Catholic  priest  who  studied  at  Leipsic  in  1882, 
seem  to  carry  more  weight  than  anything  we  could 
say,  as  they  are  those  of  a  witness  not  likely  to  be 
biased  in  their  favour  :* — 

"In  order  to  become  acquainted  with  the  soul 
\Vdme — dcr  Geist]  of  Germany  it  is  necessary  to  see 
that  community  in  its  daily  life— that  is,  attracted  to 
the  university — from  every  class  of  the  nation.  Here 
they  meet  in  absolute  fraternal  equality.  The 
common  devotion  to  knowledge,  without  destroying 


*  "Les  Allemands."    Par  Le  Pere  Didon.     Paris:    Calmann 
Levy.     1884. 


EDUCATIONAL. 


5S 


the  distinction  of  birth  and  fortune,  yet  creates  above 
iem  a  higher  unity,  where  the  most^mtelhgent  and 
laborious  take  the  first  place 

^'rislniy  'p'^sible  to  understand  the  high  civiliz- 
i...  power  of  tie  universities  in  Germany  when  we 
L;!  gained  a  full  picture  of  the  curriculum  of  m- 
^truction  followed  out  there. 

^'™  The  course  of  instruction  embraces  the  uurve. 
sality  of  science ;  it  extends  to  the  limits  of  human 
a  owleVe.  ....  Theology  and  philosophy,  meta- 
rS  and  the  positive  sciences,  their  systems  and 
£r  facts,  doctrfne  and  history,  literature  and  Ian- 
lua'es    everything    is    included    in  its  essentially 
ScPd'pLhi domain.     More  than  t^t,  certaui  a. ts 
the  exercise  of  ^vhich  presuppose  talent  o^^^^^^^ 
order    such    as    painting,    sculpture,    architecture 
mu  i",  the  science'of  agriculture,  the  art  of  war  are 
all  comprised  in  this  limitless  domaan  o    superior 
instruction.      In    truth,    this    world  -  itseK    con 
tains    everything    that    is    necessary  to   cultivate 

^'^rristt"  frankly  admitted  that,  among  n. 
people  in  the  world,  even  among  the  most  intel- 
\Zt   and    best   educated,  is    the    universality  of 

knowledge  cultivated  as  \^''''^^'^^- .:,r £^, 
where  do  universities  so  thoroughly  justify  the  r 
tradition  of  centuries,  their  great  name  of  Aln.a 
Mater  ...  In  examining  the  intellectual  life  ot 
Gemany  the  twenty-two  diversities  of  the  Empire 
appear  as  the  culminating-points  of  its  scientific 
organization.     These  twenty-two  summits  form,  m 


•I 


56 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


the  region  of  intellect,  the  high  chain  of  mountains 
which  govern  the  plain  from  afar,  and  from  whose 
heights  the  supply  of  modern  thought  and  know- 
ledge runs  like  limpid  crystal  through  endless 
channels  to  within  the  reach  of  all." 


II. 

But  every  result  has  to  be  paid  for,  and  the  same 
as  we  see  the  culture  of  music  leading  to  its  excess, 
so  the  price  Germany  pays  for  its  extended  univer- 
sity system  may  bo  said  to  consist  in  an  annually 
increasing  contingent  of  intellectual  proletariat  to 
be  found  in  the  country.  Tliis  increase  is  even 
attracting  the  notice  of  German  public  opinion. 
Lawyers  without  practice,  doctors  without  patients, 
men  of  science  without  pupils — all  these  elements 
find  no  scope  in  practical  life,  and  go  to  swell  the 
army  of  poverty  and  blighted  hopes.  ^ 

What  she  owes  to  her  splendid  system  of  school 
education  is  so  well  known  that  it  may  seem  super- 
fluous to  recapitulate  it  here.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  may  be  useful  to  point  to  a  few  of  its  pecuhari- 
ties,  if  only  to  warn  us  from  accepting  it  blindly 
as  a  model,  which  we  seem  at  times  only  too  much 
inclined  to  do. 

Amidst  all  the  nebulous  theories  of  speculative 
philosophy  that  raise  the  smile  of  foreigners,  it  re- 
mains a  fact  that  the  German  people  have  carried 
more  philosophy  into  every-day  life  than  any  other 
nation.      Unconsciously,   the  categorical  imperative 


\ 


h 


EDUCATIONAL. 


57 


of  Kant,  "  Duty,"  forms  the  basis  of  Germany's 
intellectual  character  and  action.  For  if  we  at 
most  produce  individuals  above  the  vulgar  race  for 
wealth,  the  Germans  produce  whole  classes  whose 
aims  are  entirely  distinct  from  money-making,  and 
the  most  prominent  class  is  that  of  the  German 

schoolmaster. 

It  is  true  that  before  1 866  the  English  type  of  the 
speculative  schoolmaster  had  sprung  up  in  Germany, 
but  the  rigid  Prussian  educational  test  requirements 
for  milita'ry  service  soon  put  an  end  to  amateur 
educationalism  as  a  means  of  making  a  fortune. 
Whereas  our  schoolmasters  are  nothing  if  not  specu- 
lative money-makers,  the  German  pedagogue  is  as 
poor  as  a  church  mouse,  but  devoted  to  his  work 
heart  and  soul.  It  is  impossible  to  find  his  equal 
elsewhere  in  the  world. 

But  the  opinion  is  gradually  gaining  ground  that 
he  is  grinding  the  youth  of  the  country  to  powder, 
and  that  it  is  time  to  put  the  break  on.  The  very 
high  school  qualifications  required  to  pass  the 
•  examination  for  the  one-year  service  in  the  army 
are  drilled  into  the  boys  at  such  an  early  age  as 
almost  to  put  too  great  a  strain  on  their  physical 
system.  These  tests  have  become  more  severe  of 
late,  as  well  as  the  complicated  examinations  that 
have  to  be  passed  in  order  to  obtain  any  civil  or 
military  appointment  later  on. 

But  we  are  chiefly  concerned  with  the  enormous 
strain  put  on  boys  during  their  younger  years,  and 
of  that  it  may  be  said  it  is  so  excessive  as,  in  many 


i 


/a 


58 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


EDUCATIONAL, 


59 


im; 


instances,  to  affect  them  physically  and  stunt  their 
growth  intellectually. 

A  German  paper  says  : — 

"  The  over-burdening  of  our  youth  with  school- 
work  is  again  the  subject  of  wide  discussion  with 
our  pedagogues,  as  well  as  with  those  other  philan- 
thropists who  are  anxious  for  the  welfare  of  our 
youth.  We  have  collected  a  few  opinions  of  autho- 
rities  on  the  subject,  which  we  append  : — 

"  Our  monopolized  gymnasium,*  with  its  devotion 
to  the  dead  languages  and  their  grammar,  has 
brought  us  to  such  a  pass  that  we — the  so-called 
best  educated  classes — are  strangers  in  our  own 
century,  unable  to  free  ourselves  from  a  dead  and 
abstract  world  amidst  wliich  we  have  passed  our 
youth  in  order  to  obtain  certain  examinatory  quali- 
fications. It  is  questionable  whether  we  are  ever 
able  to  free  ourselves  from  the  consequences,  let 
alone  the  bodily  and  ethical  damage  done  to  us  by 
this  enforced  torture. 

"  Haetwig.I 

"  DiJssELDORF,  31ay  1886. 

"  We  seem  to  have  forgotten  too  readily  that  the 
word  gymnasium  originally  means  a  place  set  apart 
for  athletic  exercise. 

"  LOTIJAR    BUCHER.{ 
"  Berlin,  3Iay  1886. 


*  The  German  term  for  schools  in  which  the  usual  classical 
curriculum  is  followed. 

t  A  well-known  German  philologist. 

t  Privy-Councillor  Lothar  Bucher,  up  till  lately  Bismarck's 
right-hand  man  in  the  Foreign  Office. 


«  Schools  ought  to  be  fitted  to  the  requirements  of 

humanity. 

"  Oppolzer. 

"Vienna,  June  1886. 

"The  gymnasium   with   its  two  dead  languages 
cannot  las't ;  the  only  alternative  is  to  drop  either 

Greek  or  Latin. 

"  Eduaed  v.  Hartmann. 

"Gr.  Lichterfelde,  May  1886. 

« I  accuse  our  schools  of  unfair  competition,  for 
they  only  bring  out  two-legged  encyclopaedias. 

"  Hermann  J.  Meyer.! 

''July  13,  1886. 

«  True  culture  does  not  consist  of  dead  knowledge 
and  hollow  tests  of  memory,  but  in  the  true  develop- 
ment  of  the  heart  and  of  the  reasoning  faculties  ot 

the  brain.  ^^  ^  . 

''  Ernst  Haeckel.; 

'*  Jena,  June  1886. 

"  An  excess  of  heterogeneous  knowledge  weakens 

our  senses  and  lames  our  will. 

"  William  Jordan.§ 

•'  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  July  1886. 


*  The  best  known  of  living  German  philosophers, 
t  Compiler  of  best  known  German  Encyclopaedia 
X  Professor  of  Natural  Sciences  at  Jena;  well-known  Dar- 

winian. 

§  Philologist  and  poet  of  reputation. 


HI 


!^'l 


60 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


i  ; 


"  Those  who  look  after  the  condition  of  h'ght  and 
fresh  air  in  our  schools,  when  they  see  that  the 
number  of  diseased  eyes  and  lungs  does  not  decline, 
forget  that  in  inimberless  cases  the  bad  air  and  bad 
light  at  home  in  the  evenings  undo  all  the  good  of 
light  airy  schoolrooms.  Therefore,  reduce  the  amount 
of  work  to  be  done  at  home  in  the  evening.  There 
it  is.  Teach  in  school,  but  give  youth  its  freedom 
at  home. 

"J.    IiEULEAUX.* 
"Berlin,  May  2^,  1886." 

It  is,  however,  only  fair  to  add  that  a  number 
of  Professors  of  the  University  of  Heidelberg  have 
recently  signed  a  declaration  to  the  effect  that  they 
do  not  believe  in  the  evil  consequences  of  the  present 
system  of  school  education. 

Yet  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  one  of  its  outcomes 
is  a  large  amount  of  so-called  HamUduncj  (half- 
education),  which  carries  imperfectly  digested  theories 
into  the  community  and  tends  to  swell  the  ranks  of 
the  Social  Democrats. 

Besides,  a  large  amount  of  this  burdensome  school 
knowledge  is  utterly  lost  and  thrown  away  in  after- 
life by  those  who  have  been  forced  to  attain  it  in 
order  to  pass  the  one-year-service  examination  for 
the  army,  and  the  ambition  to  do  so  is  found  down 
to  the  humblest  walks  of  life.  Then,  again,  the 
leaning  towards  intellectual  knowledge  too  often 
dies  away  in  the  practical  battle  of  life,  and  thus 


*  Privy  CounciUor  and  member  of  the  Prussian   Chamber  of 
Commerce. 


EDUCATIONAL. 


61 


we  find  a  great  amount  of  stunted  intellect  m  the 
country— those  who  have  not  been  able  to  realize 
the  promise  of  their  school-days. 

One  definite  omission  we  are  convinced  they 
ought  to  supply,  and  this  is  a  greater  study  of 
political  economy  and  of  political  science.  These 
are  the  things  that,  percolating  the  masses  through 
the  younger  generations,  will  do  more  to  form  the 
judgment  of  the  people,  and  produce  a  well-balanced 
poplilar  opinion,  than  the  newspapers. 


III. 

There  are  other  points  that  call  for  remark.     In 
the  strain  of  over-study  the  cultivation  of  character 

is  neglected.  , 

The  masters  are  so  engrossed  with  the  intellectual 
procuress  of  their  pupils  that  they  have  little  attention 
left°to  bestow  on  the  development  of  their  character, 
a  point   far  more  seen  to  even  in  our  "  good-tor- 
nothing-else  "    schools.      The    German  masters  are 
excellent  instructors   {Lchrcv\  but  rarely  educators 
iErdciia\     One  of  the  causes  of  this  is  that  tlie 
German  boys  do  not  pass  so  much  of  their  free  time 
—of  which  they  have  very  little— in  the  company 
of  the  master  as  in  England.    If  English  boys  spend 
too  much  of  their  time  in  play,  the  German  boys 
spend  too  little.*     And  this  is  to  be  deplored  for 


*  This  is  undergoing  a  change  for  the  better  of  late ;  not  only 
in  schools,  but  among  the  population  at  large,  outdoor  recreative 
exercise  is  on  the  increase. 


62 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


EDUCATIONAL. 


63 


two  reasons  :  the  first  is  that  outdoor  games  are  so 
necessary  for  the  bodily  health  and  development  of 
youth;  the  second,  that  it  is  principally  by  the 
companionship  and  joining  in  the  games  of  their 
pupils  that  English  schoolmasters  are  able  to  exer- 
cise a  healthy  influence  on  the  character  of  their 
charges. 

The  German  pedagogues  prematurely  develop  the 
brain  at  the  expense  of  the  physique,  and  without 
enough  attention  to  tlie  cliaracter ;  the  English  peda- 
gogues develop  the  character  and  the  physique  to 
the  neglect  of  the  brain. 

A  comparison  of  the  outward  appearance  of  a 
class  of  English  and  German  school-boys,  say  be- 
tween the  ages  of  twelve  and  fifteen,  will  at  once 
strike  an  observer,  and  would  prove  the  best  answer 
to  the  recent  declaration  of  the  Heidelberg  Pro- 
fessors. ^  The  English  boys  look  far  healthier  and 
more  active,  and  their  manners  are  much  more  easy 
and  engaging,  than  tliose  of  the  latter. 

Further,  we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that, 
admitting  that  the  schoolroom  knowledge  of  a 
German  youth  of  twenty  is,  on  an  average,  far 
above  that  of  the  English  lad  of  the  same  age,  'it  is 
by  no  means  certain  that  the  same  holds  good  when 
they  are  both  forty  or  fifty. 

On  the  contrary,  from  our  observation  we  should 
say  that  as  they  grow  older  the  intellectual  attain- 
ments of  the  two  tend  to  equalize,  and,  when  they 
come  to  the  prime  of  life,  the  Englishman,  whose 
life  is  generally  more  active  and  practical,  is 
quite  on  a  par  in  intellectual  power  with  the  better 


% 


educated  German.  And  from  fifty  upwards  we  are 
even  Inclined  to  think  the  German  goes  stale  sooner 
than  the  Englishman.     And  if  such  he  the  case,  it 

nust  be  owing  to  the  English  on  an  average  leading 
a  morehealthj- lite,  for  where  the  Germans  do  lead  a 

tolthy  outdoor  life  we  see  the  plienomenal  vitality 

of  their  military  commanders. 

German  education  forces  too  much  at  too  early  a u 

a.e  not  often  to  affect  the  elasticity  of  the  hrain  later 

of  in  life,  unless  it  is  made  up  for  by  the  healthiness 

of  later  life,  as  in  the  army. 

Besdes   hose  already  noted,  there  are  other  dis- 
tinct contrasts  between  English  and  German  school 
svstems      The  Enghsh  master  devotes  all  his  attei  - 
tfonT.  the  most  gifted  and  diligent  boys,   neglec  - 
Srthe  less  inteUigent  ones,  for  it  is  --f^^^^ 
him  to  get  known  through  the  success  0    his  pupils 
a   ^xamtaations  in  order  to  secure  further  patron- 
te      German  masters  devote  themselves  equally  to 
Ae  instruction  of  all  without  money   interest'   ^^^ 
also  without  holding  forth  prizes  as   -  — - 
Prizes    and    scholarships    are    almost   unknown 
German  schools  as  well  as  in  umversity  life. 

A  German  boys  hardly  play  any  outdoor  games, 
compared  with  English  boys,  so  also  those  fr.ndships 
among  themselves,  which  in  England  so  often  last 

through  after-life,  are  ^^^^^^^^ZJ^Tt 
above  the  system  does  not  tend  lo  unno 
haliter,  b^t,  on  the  contrary,  rather  to  -Hue  an^ 
suppress  the  natural  effervescence  of  youth.  On  the 
oZ  hand,  one  cause  vitiating  character  in  EugWul 
tU  one  English  school  vice,  is  unknown  in  Germany 


rf 


64 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


--viz.,  toadyism,  inculcated  by  parents  themselves 
in  sending  boys  to  school  merely  to  pick  up  connec- 
tions to  help  them  on  in  after-life. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  prizes 
and  scholarships  as  incentives  are  unknown  both  at 
German  schools  and  universities.  The  astonishing 
results  of  German  education  are  gained  without 
even  appealing  to  the  instincts  of  rivalry  or  compe- 
tition :  a  most  instructive  fact ! 


(     65     ) 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

THE  PKUSSIAK  M0:N'AECHY. 

The  Sovereign  is  the  Sovereign  of  all.  The  proper  leader  of 
the  people  is  the  individual  who  sits  on  the  throne. — Lori> 
Beaconsfield. 

I. 

We  who  have  gained  our  liberties  by  centuries]  [of 
struggle  against  the  pretensions  of  the  Crown  are 
loth  to  admit  the  advantages  of  a  strong  monarchy, 
even  if  we  are  not  instinctively  suspicious  of  it. 
Yet  who  can  say,  supposing  that,  instead  of  the 
Stuarts,  we  had  been  ruled  by  a  royal  house 
of  the  stamp  of  the  Hohenzollerns — who  can  say 
that  the  monarchy  might  not  be  as  powerful  in 
England  to-day  as  we  find  it  in  Prussia  ? 

If  the  elective  monarchy  of  old  made  possible 
the  Thirty  Years'  War,  that  brought  down  Germany 
from  its  position  of  the  first  Power  of  Europe  to  a 
waste  desert  inhabited  by  hardly  five  millions  of 
half-starving  human  beings,  the  stability  of  tlie 
House  of  Hohenzollern  has  proved  the  salvation  of 
Germany  in  our  time.  What  we  should  deem  a 
curse  for  ourselves  has  turned  out  a  blessing  for 
Germany,  and  what  we  should  have  thought  likely 
to  benefit  the   Germans — namely,  our  own  parlia- 

F 


66 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


THE  PRUSSIAN  MONARCHY. 


67 


raentary  institutions — would  in  all  probability  have 
proved  powerless  to  help  them. 

From  the  first  Burggrave  of  Nlirnberg,  who  bought 
the  margravate  of  Brandenburg  from  the  impecu- 
nious Holy  Eoman  Emperor  Sigismund,  down  to  the 
Prussian  rulers  of  our  day,  the  family  of  Hohenzollern 
supplies  us  with  an  extraordinary  instance  of  the 
descent  of  certain  qualities  from  father  to  son. 

Of  Suabian  origin — and  Suabia  is  the  traditional 
home  of   canniness  and  thrift — the  Hohenzollerns 
have  almost  all  been  distinguished  by  the  possession 
of  these  useful  qualities,  allied  to  strong  common- 
sense,  which  prevented  them  from  turning  to  dis- 
eased niggardliness.     On  the  contrary,  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  Suabian  family  only  seem  to  have 
hardened  in  a  Northern  soil  until  they  burst  forth 
in  the  full  effulgence  of  genius    in  Frederick  the 
Great.     By  a  strange  freak  of  fortune,  even  the  one 
Hohenzollern  of  a  long  line  of  rulers  who  formed  an 
exception  to  the  family  characteristic  of  closeness 
in  money  matters  benefited  his  country  by  his  ex- 
travagant vanity.      For  he  it  was— Frederick  I. — 
who,  again  profiting  by  the  impecuniousness  of  the 
Emperor  Frederick  III.,  bought  the  title  of  King  of 
Prussia,  if  he  did  not  even  do  a  little  bribery  in  the 
affair,    and    thus    gained    that    recognition   for   his 
country  which  his  successors  so  well  took  advantage 
of.     Yet  even  in  this  particular  the  Hohenzollerns 
show  to   advantage    compared   with  other  German 
Sovereigns,  who  almost  all  owe  their  present  titles 
to  having  sided  with  the  French  against  their  own 
countrymen. 


i 


Thus  we  have  in  this  extraordinary  family  hardly 
a  sinf^le  ruler  who  did  not  in  one  way  or  other  add 
his  mite  to  the  foundation  of  Prussian  power. 

II. 

To  understand  the  position  of  the  Hohenzollerns 
of  to-day  it  is  useful  to  look  at  the  past,  and,  before 
referring  to  their  doings,  just  cast  a  passing  glance 
at  the  negative  merit  of  what  they  refrained  from 
doing.  Allowing  for  the  times  they  lived  in,  it  will 
be  found  that,  man  for  man,  from  the  days  of  the 
Great  Elector  down  to  our  own  time,  they  have  been 
individually  far  superior  to  their  confreres  on  the 
German  thrones. 

Whilst  the  ruler  of  the  one  German  State  that 
could  have  made  itself  the  head  of  Protestant  Ger- 
many— Saxony — was  squandering  the  treasure  of 
his  country  in  every  form  of  extravagant  debauchery. 
King  Frederick  William  I.  was  quietly  drilling  his 
soldiers,  filling  the  national  coffers,  and  organizing  a 
model  administration  in  every  department  of  the 
State.  The  amiable  Guelphs  just  called  to  rule 
over  the  English  were  indulging  their  favourite  tastes, 
cursing  the  English,  making  themselves  hated,  and 
thus  consolidating  the  power  of  the  English  aristo- 
cracy. At  that  very  time  the  Duke  of  Wiirtemberg 
was  ruining  the  country  by  his  extravagant  imitation 
of  French  Court  life  and  immorality.  Later  on, 
when  Frederick  the  Great  was  consolidating  the 
fruits  of  his  victories,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse-Cassel 
was  amassing  a  private  fortune   of  forty    million 

F  2 


68 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


dollars  by   selling  his  subjects   to   England   to   be 
employed  in  coercing  the  American  colonists. 

But  the  pig-headed  rascalities  of  the  Guelphs  in 
Hanover,  the  licentious  blackguardism  of  the  Courts 
of  Wurtemberg,  Bavaria,  Hesse,  and  Saxony,  are 
only  interesting  as  they  enable  us  to  see  how  the 
Hohenzollerns  managed  to  wade  through  the  rotten- 
ness of  the  times  and  remain,  on  the  whole,  un- 
soiled.  For  their  record,  side  by  side  with  such,  is 
a  comparatively  clean  one. 

But  freedom  from  rascality  is  only  an  indication 
of  a  superiority  the  Hohenzollerns  invariably  pos- 
sessed and  showed  by  their  actions.  They  have 
proved  true  to  the  motto  of  the  greatest  of  them 
all,  that  the  King  is  the  first  servant  of  the  State. 
They  have  ever  set  their  ambition  to  work  out  the 
development  and  welfare  of  the  entire  nation  instead 
of  that  of  a  class.  The  humblest  have  felt  it  to  be 
so,  as  is  proved  by  the  celebrated  answer  of  the 
miller  to  Frederick  the  Great,  who,  when  the  King 
threatened  to  expropriate  him  unjustly,  replied, 
"  There  are  still  judges  in  Berlin,  your  Majesty  !  " 
Can  we  imagine  a  French  miller  threatening 
Louis  XY.  with  a  judge  ? 

To  be  a  monarchy  of  the  poor  is  even  to-day  the 
boast  of  the  Hohenzollerns.  Against  the  pretensions 
of  the  aristocracy  they  have  always  sided  with  the 
rising  citizen  class,  however  much  personal  ties  may 
have'^bound  them  to  the  nobility.  Whenever  the 
vital  interests  of  the  people  have  been  at  stake  the 
Prussian  monarchs  have  seen  that  justice  was  done. 
And  it  is  perhaps  indirectly  owing  to  this  distinc- 


THE  PRUSSIAN  MONARCHY, 


69 


tion  that  the  Prussians  and  their  rulers  have  ever 
been  most  cordially  hated  by  certain  elements  in 
politics.  Particularly,  those  of  doubtful  moral  stand- 
ing nave  ever  been  fiercest  in  their  dislike  to  Prussia. 
In  our  time  the  Prussians  have  known  no  greater 
enemies  than  those  morganatic  ladies  who  infest 
the  little  Courts  of  Germany,  and  have  wielded  con- 
siderable political  influence  from  time  to  time. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  the  Hohen- 
zollerns introduced  obligatory  education  amidst  the 
derision  of  foreigners,  and  gradually  abolished  medi- 
aeval serfdom.  So  also  in  our  day  we  see  them 
breaking  entirely  new  and  hitherto  untrodden 
uround,  introducing  economic  measures  for  the  wel- 
fare  of  the  masses. 

It  has  ever  been  their  supreme  merit  to  recognize 
that  a  nation  does  not  consist  of  a  small  minority  of 
privileged  persons,  but  rather  that  the  meanest  and 
the  luimblest  have  an  equal  call  on  the  care  and 
solicitude  of  the  Sovereign. 

In  this  traditional  and  truly  royal  acceptation  of 
the  duties  of  a  monarch  lies  the  secret  of  the  Sove- 
reign's power  in  Prussia.  This  it  is  that  has  enabled 
Prussia  from  time  to  time  to  bear  the  strain  put 
upon  the  very  existence  of  the  State,  and  to  face  a 
world  in  arms ! 

The  Hohenzollerns  from  the  first  have  been  the 
nurturers  and  educators  of  their  people.  It  is 
they  who  have  impressed  their  administration  with 
that  stamp  of  incorruptible  rectitude,  that  iron  sense 
of  duty  and  care  for  the  welfare  of  all  classes  of  the 
community,  so  that  one  and  all  are  ready  to  recognize 


I 


) 


i 


70 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


THE  PRUSSIAN  MONARCHY, 


71 


now  that  military  success  lias  drawn  the  attention 
of  the  world  to  its  causes.  But  long  ago  there  were 
observers  who  needed  not  military  success  to  quicken 
their  perceptions,  and  one  of  them  was  the  late  Lord 
Lytton,  who  in  1840  declared  that  Prussia  was  the 
best  governed  country  in  the  world. 

III. 

About  the  same  time  that  our  Charles  II.  was 
in  receipt  of  a  yearly  bribe  from  Louis  XIV. 
througli  the  hands  of  a  French  courtesan,  the 
Great  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  the  victor  of  Fehr- 
bellin,  was  offering  shelter  to  the  French  Protest- 
ants whom  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  had 
driven  from  their  homes.  He  it  was  who,  finding 
his  country  swarming  with  titled  do-nothings,  put 
a  firm  if  despotic  stop  to  gambling  and  profligacy, 
and  gathered  the  scions  of  the  poor  nobility  to  the 
standards  of  his  victorious  army.  Such  despotism 
has  now  and  then  done  good  service  in  history,  and 
in  this  instance  it  laid  the  foundation  of  that 
devotion  of  the  poor  Prussian  aristocracy  to  the 
throne  and  the  army  that  has  borne  such  splendid 

fruit  in  our  time. 

Frederick  William  1.  found  his  kingdom  not 
only  impoverished  by  the  extravagance  of  his  prede- 
cessor, but  still  showing  the  traces  of  the  devasta- 
tion of  a  previous  century  of  warfare.  Whole 
districts  were  still  untilled  waste,  and  even  as  late 
as  the  eighteenth  century  the  pest  had  fearfully 
devastated  East  Prussia.      It  was  the  King  himself 


1 


who  by  proclamations  and  patents  attracted  foreigners 
from  Saxony  and  Wiirtemberg,  from  the  Palatinate, 
from  Switzerland,  and  Bohemia,  and,  together  with 
the  Protestants  that  were  driven  from  Austria, 
turned  them  into  industrious  and  contented  citizens. 
He  cut  canals,  laid  out  high  roads,  caused  heather 
land  to  be  furrowed  by  the  plough.  He  extended 
the  postal  system.  Model  farms  and  cattle-breeding 
establishments  were  fostered  and  encouraged,  and  the 
celebrated  stud  of  Trakehnen,  which  was  destined  to 
improve  the  breed  of  horses  all  over  the  country, 
owed  its  existence  to  the  solicitude  of  the  King. 

Frederick  AVilliam  was  far  more  of  a  king  of  the 
poor  than  a  "  soldier  king,"  which  latter  one-sided 
historians  long  declared  him;  the  hardness  and 
harshness  for  which  he  has  been  blamed  were  often 
necessary  in  his  reforming  work.  The  landed 
aristocracy  rebelled  when  he  sought  to  abolish  the 
serfdom  of  the  peasantry,  and  he  only  succeeded  in 
diminishing  the  unjust  exactions  of  the  landowners. 
When  the  petty  nobility  refused  to  pay  a  land-tax, 
and  demanded  that  their  grievance  should  be  put 
before  the  Provincial  IJiet,  he  wrote  the  memorable 
words :  "  I  shall  gain  my  point,  and  plant  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Crown  as  firm  as  a  rock  of  bronze, 
and  let  these  gentry  indulge  in  their  windy  talk  in 
the  Diet.  We  can  afford  to  let  people  talk  when 
we  gain  our  point." 

Compulsory  education,  the  ofticial  system,  and 
universal  military  service,  which  he  introduced,  have 
since  become  part  of  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the 
nation. 


\ 


72 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


IV. 


/ 


It  was  Frederick  the  Great  who,  in  the  midst  of 
^the  dogmatic  and  philosophic  contentions  of  the 
time,  quietly  put  it :  "  In  my  country  everybody  can 
secure  his  salvation  in  his  own  fashion."  To  him  it 
was  that  one  of  his  great  territorial  nobles.  Count 
Schaffgotsch,  wrote  apologizing  for  having  changed 
his  religion.  He  explained  how  the  acquisition  of 
the  estate  of  Schlackenwerth  was  bound  up  with  the 
condition  of  his  becoming  a  Catholic.  Frederick, 
in  his  reply,  dryly  put  it :  "I  have  taken  cognizance 
of  your  lordship's  action,  to  which  I  have  no  objec- 
tion. Many  roads  lead  to  heaven;  your  lordship 
has  struck    out    on   the   road   by   Schlackenwerth. 

Bon  voyage!" 

In  every  department  of  political  and  social  reform 
Frederick  the  Great  took  the  initiative.  He  con- 
tinued his  father's  work  of  creating  a  free  and  in- 
dependent peasant  class,  particularly  through  his 
edict  of  1764,  which  led  the  way  to  the  total  aboli- 
tion of  peasant  serfdom.  He  advanced  capital  to 
the  peasant  soil-cultivator,  saw  that  whole  districts 
were  drained,  laid  the  foundations  of  new  villages, 
and  gained  arid  tracts  of  land  for  the  plough. 

The  rei^n  of  Frederick  William  III.  was  one  of 
deep  national  misfortune  and  degradation.  Still, 
the  personal  qualities  of  the  King  command  our 
highest  respect. 

At  a  time  when  tlie  pretensions  of  the  aristocracy, 
and  particularly  of  the  army,  were  an  unbearable 
nuisance,  the  King  promulgated  the  following  Cabinet 


I 


1 

I 


THE  PRUSSIAN  MONARCHY. 


73 


order  : — "  I  have  noticed  with  great  displeasure  that 
young  officers  in  particular  endeavour  to  take  pre- 
cedence of  civilians.  I  shall  see  that  the  army  is 
duly  esteemed  and  recognized  in  its  proper  place  at 
the  seat  of  war,  where  it  is  called  upon  to  risk  life 
and  limb  in  the  defence  of  the  country.  Otherwise, 
no  soldier,  whatever  his  rank,  is  to  dare  to  ill-treat 
even  the  humblest  of  my  citizens,  for  it  is  they, 
and  not  I,  who  keep  the  army.  In  their  service 
are  the  soldiers  the  command  of  whom  is  con- 
fided to  me,  and  arrest,  dismissal,  and  even  the 
penalty  of  death  await  those  who  act  in  contraven- 
tion to  my  orders." 

The  above  is  in  the  true  Hohenzollern  spirit  of 
protecting  the  weak  from  the  strong,  and  explains 
the  attachment  of  the  people  to  the  King  notwith- 
standing the  trials  Prussia  underwent  during  his  reign. 
In  his  reign,  too,  domestic  virtue,  so  sadly 
outraged  by  society  at  the  time,  gained  a  shining 
example  in  his  own  family.  The  divine  figure  of 
Queen  Louisa  stands  out  for  all  time  as  a  model  of 
a  royal  wife  and  mother.  Has  not  the  late  Emperor 
William  borne  eloquent  testimony  to  the  inlluence 
of  that  mother,  who  at  all  times  was  his  guiding 
star  ? 

When  at  last  the  turn  of  the  tide  came,  and  the 
wave  of  French  invasion  was  hurled  back  to  exhaust 
itself  on  a  barren  Atlantic  island,  then  that  rare 
gift  of  the  Hohenzollern,  the  capacity  of  choosing 
the  best  advisers,  shone  out  anew,  and  Stein  and 
Scharnhorst  helped  to  rebuild  the  shattered  national 
edifice. 


74 


I 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


V. 


THE  PRUSSIAN  MONARCHY. 


75 


To  admit  that,  after  1815,  a  period  of  reaction 
set  in  that  bade  many  patriots  grow  anxious  for  the 
prospects  of  their  country  is  only  to  say  that  there 
are  periods  of  dull  apathy  in  the  life  of  nations  as 
well  as  in  that  of  individuals. 

But  even  during  the  reign  of  Frederick  William 
lY.,  dimmed  as  it  was  by  Prussia's  abject  political 
roli  we  can  still  trace  that  endeavour  of  the  Crown 
to  raise  the  culture  and  increase  the  happiness  of 

the  people. 

Whilst   an   iron   tyranny  marked    the    adminis- 
tration  of   Austria,  as  well  as  of  the  minor  German 
States,  there  was  at  least  an  earnest  good- will  on  the 
part  of  Frederick  William.     The  impetus  he  gave  to 
science  and  philosophy,  though  perhaps  not  visibly 
productive  at  the  time,  has  yet   done  its  share  in 
preparing  the  public  mind  for  the  great  events  that 
were  to   come   hereafter.      His  romantic  idealism, 
which  in    its  aberration   unselfishly   and   modestly 
looked  up  to  an  old  intriguer  like  Metternich  as  an 
authority  in  the  art  of   making  a  people  happy — 
even  this  weakness  prepared  the  ground  for  his  suc- 
cessors ;  it  proved  a  source  of  strength  to  them,  for 
it  enabled  them  to  see  that  only  a  struggle  of  life 
and  death  could  unite  Germany. 

This  and  more  we  have  witnessed  in  our  time, 
and  here  again  we  find  a  Hohenzollern  King  at  hand, 
the  first  to  recognize  the  signs  of  the  times,  with 
almost  supernatural  instinct  in  the  detection  of 
merit,  taking  the  foremost  place  in  the  onward  march 


of  events,  and  realizing  the  German  dream  of  cen- 
turies of  national  unity  and  independence.  For 
although  without  a  Bismarck  the  Germany  of  to-day 
might  have  been,  without  the  late  Emperor  William 

it  could  not  be. 

In  him  truly  Germany  produced  a  great  charac- 
ter, a  force  often  far  more  decisive  in  the  shaping  of 
destiny  tlian  all  the  arts  of  Machiavelli.  And  in 
his  case  the  words  of  Goethe,  that  only  men  of 
eminence  are  capable  of  recognizing  the  truly  great, 
find  their  fit  application  in  the  relationship  of  the 
Emperor  to  his  paladins. 

Brought  up  in  the  feudal  ideas  of  a  monarchy 
existing  by  the  grace  of  God,  he  lived  to  discern  the 
sterling  character  and  strength  of  that  people  he 
had  once  contemptuously  treated  as  populace.  And 
that  people  in  its  turn  learned  to  understand,  to 
appreciate,  and  lastly  to  idolize  the  grand  old  warrior 
who  amidst  every  additional  lustre  of  his  reign  re- 
mained the  same  in  God-fearing  modesty  and  in 
his  attachment  to  what  he  conceived  to  be  his 
mission  and  his  duty.*  This  enthusiasm  of  the 
people  increased  as  the  old  hero  exceeded  the 
age  usually  allotted  to  man  ;  and  wlien  his  ninetieth 
birthday  came  round  it  seemed  as  if  the  religious 
element  had  mingled  with  the  loyalty  of  a  nation 


*  History  will  not  omit  to  note  what  was  perhaps  one  of 
the  noblest  traits  of  his  character,  when  in  '70  the  old  King 
preferred  to  accept  a  diplomatic  defeat— almost  a  personal 
humiliation— rather  than  inflict  the  misery  of  war  on  his  people. 
We  know  now  how  difficult  it  was  to  bring  him  to  subscribe  to 
the  words  "  Mobil— Krieg."— FiVZe  Emperor  Frederick's  Diary. 


76 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


THE  PRUSSIAN  MONARCHY, 


77 


I 


I 


before  an  historical  figure  the  record  of  which  cast 
fiction  in  the  shade.  On  that  day  well  might  the 
German  students,  2000  strong,  bear  torches  in  his 
honour,  and  halting  before  his  palace  windows 
cheer  to  the  address  of  their  leader  :  "  His  Majesty, 
our  most  gracious  Kaiser,  the  victorious  leader  in 
numerous  battles,  the  Unifier  of  Germany's  princes 
and  people,  the  father  of  his  country,  the  custodian 
of  the  peace  of  Europe,  the  creator  of  a  new  ideal 
world — long  may  he  live  !  " 

The  incidents  of  his  death  which  followed  so 
soon  afterwards  are  still  familiar  to  us  all.  We 
remember  how,  after  calling  in  vain  for  his  suffering 
son,  "  Fritz,  lieber  Fritz,"  almost  the  last  words  of 
the  old  warrior  were  a  key-note  to  his  entire  life  : 
"  I  have  no  time  to  be  tired." 

But  let  us  give  place  to  one  with  rare  powers  of 
judgment  as  well  as  opportunities  of  exercising 
them,  and  whose  verdict,  if  that  of  a  staunch 
patriot,  is  at  least  not  that  of  a  time-server — of  a 
Saxon,  and  not  of  a  Prussian  * : 

"  The  Emperor  William  I.  reached  the  highest 
pinnacle  of  worldly  fame  gradually  in  one  continnal 
rising  progress,  showing  himself  equal  to  every  new 
task  as  it  came  before  him.  The  man  who  united 
Germany,  and  gave  her  for  the  first  time  for  cen- 
turies the  unsullied  joy  of  victory,  has  only  sunk  to 
rest  to  unite  a  whole    people  in  sorrow  round  his 


grave. 


*  "Zwei    Kaiser."     By  Heinrich  von  Treitschke.     Vol.  Ixii. 
of  Freussische  Jahrhilcher  (Prussian  Yearly  Records). 


"  In  the  years  during  which  the  character  of  man 
is  supposed  to  shape  itself,  his  highest  ambition 
could  scarcely  have  exceeded  the  hope  of  com- 
manding the  troops  of  his  father  or  of  his  brother. 
In  these  years  he  lived  in  retirement,  sharing  the 
views  of  Prussia's  best  intellect,  that  the  Constitution 
of  federal  Germany  was  as  unsatisfactory  as  the 
state  of  her  west  frontier,  and  that  only  a  last  de- 
cisive struggle  could  give  the  German  nation  inde- 
pendence. He  hehl  on  to  this  iiope,  and  saw  clearly 
that  only  a  strong  l^russia  would  be  able  to  break 
the  pressure  of  powerful  surrounding  States,  and 
fulfil  the  national  destiny. 

"  Thus  he  became  a  soldier  heart  and  soul,  loved 
for  his  personal  amiability,  and  feared  for  his  se- 
verity in  matters  of  discipline,  which  showed  even 
the  humblest  subaltern  that  an  exacting  and  stern 
eye  was  upon  him.  Others  slightingly  mistook  for 
useless  play-soldiering  what  was  in  reality  a  deep 
political  game. 

"  Public  opinion  indulged  in  liadical  dreams ;  it 
went  into  ecstasies  in  brotherly  enthusiasm  for  Poles 
and  Frenchmen,  and  hoped  for  a  millennium  of  peace. 
In  its  conceit  it  could  not  understand  the  rough 
military  ardour  and  sense  of  duty  of  this  Prus- 
sian prince  in  its  bearing  on  the  future  of  the 
country. 

"  In  his  opposition  to  organic  changes  in  the  Con- 
stitution he  encountered  all  the  hatred  of  party  ;  he 
warned  his  brother  that  Parliament  would  abuse  its 
power  of  granting  taxation  by  weakening  the  army. 
His  warnings  were  not  heeded,  and  as  he  had  before 


^ 


II 


■  f 

t  i 


78 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


given  up  the  love  of  his  youth  to  the  call  of  duty  to 
the  State,  so  now  also  he  ceased  all  opposition  when 
once  the  decision  of  the  King  his  brother  \vas  taken. 
And  like  a  knight  of  old  he,  as  the  first  subject, 
took  on  his  own  shoulder  all  the  unpopularity  that 
threatened  to  discharge  itself  upon  the  Crown. 

"  The  revolution  broke  out.  A  rabid  hate,  a 
storm  of  misconception,  poured  over  his  head  and 
drove  him  into  exile ;  only  the  army  that  knew  him 
never  wavered  in  its  devotion,  and  at  the  bivouac 
fires  in  Schleswig-Holstein  the  soldiers  sang : 

'•  *Prinz  von  Preussen,  ritterlich  und  bieder, 
Kehr  zu  Deinen  Truppen  wieder, 
Heiss  geliebter  General. '  * 

And  when  he  returned  from  the  exile  which  he  had 
accepted  for  his  brother's  sake,  he  honestly  and  un- 
reservedly co-operated  in  the  spirit  of  the  new  order 
of  things. 

"Years  afterwards,  the  illness  of  Frederick 
William  IV.  put  him  at  the  head  of  affairs.  Two 
years  later  the  death  of  the  King  placed  the  crown 
on  his  head.  After  short  days  of  popular  joy  and  un- 
certain expectation,  he  had  to  feel  the  fitful  character 
of  popular  favour  and  to  begin  that  battle  which,  as 
heir  to  the  throne,  he  had  foreseen — the  battle  for 
his  own  work,  the  re-organization  of  the  army.  The 
hatred  of  party  grew  to  such  intensity  as  was  only 
possible  among  the  descendants  of  the  sufferers  by 


*  Prince  of  Prussia,  brave  and  true, 
Return  and  cheer  thy  troops  anew, 
Much  beloved  general. 


THE  PRUSSIAN  MONARCHY. 


79 


the  Thirty  Years'  War ;  the  German  comic  papers 
even  represented  this  manly,  true-hearted  soldier's 
face  as  that  of  a  tiger.  Tiie  struggle  reached  such 
a  height  that  only  the  decisive  power  of  military 
success  could  cut  the  knot,  and  prove  the  rights  of 
the  monarch. 

"  And  tliese  successes  came  in  those  memorable 
seven  years  which  summed  up  the  results  of  two 
centuries  of  Prussian  history.  Blow  after  blow  all 
these  questions  found  their  solution,  to  the  attain- 
ment of  which  the  diplomacy  of  Prussia  had  worked 
for  generations. 

"  The  last  of  German  boundaries  in  the  Xorth 
was  torn  from  Scandinavian  grasp ;  the  battle  of 
Sadowa  secured  what  had  been  missed  at  Kolin,* 
the  liberation  of  Germany  from  the  hegemony  of 
the  House  of  Austria.  Then  at  last,  by  a  se^pience 
of  unrivalled  victories,  the  coronation  at  Versailles 
set  the  seal  on  and  exceeded  what  in  days  gone  by 
the  men  of  i  8  l  3  had  fondly  hoped  for. 

"  Gratefully  the  Prussians  recognized  that  their 
institutions  w^ere  now  more  safeguarded  than  ever 
under  a  powerful  Sovereign ;  for,  immediately  after 
the  '66  war,  the  King,  who  had  shown  himself 
to  be  so  thoroughly  in  the  right,  voluntarily 
offered  atonement  for  the  technical  breach  of  the 
Constitution,  and  not  a  word  of  bitterness  ever 
came  to  his  lips  to  call  up  the  differences  of  the 


*  Kolin,  the  severest  defeat  Frederick  the  Great  sustained 
during  the  Seven  Years'  War  at  the  hands  of  the  Austrian  com- 
mander, Field-Marshal  Dann. 


%' . — 


•I 


■li 


i 


80 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


past.  The  whole  German  people  had  for  the  first 
time  gained  the  feeling  of  national  pride  and,  in 
the  joy  of  their  new  condition,  forgotten  the  dis- 
cord of  centuries. 

"Through    all    these    wondrous    events — events 
that  might  have  intoxicated  even  the  brain  of  the 
most    sober— King  William    comes   before   us   un- 
changed in  kindliness,  firmness,  and  modesty.     He 
himself  believed  that  only  a  short  span  would  be 
granted  him  to   see  the  first  beginning  of  the  new 
order  of  things.     But  it  was  ordained  otherwise,  and 
far  more  beneficially.     ISTot  only  did  he  live  to  com- 
plete the  legal  groundwork  of  the  new  Empire,  but  to 
add  to  the  stability  of  the  edifice  by  the  power  of 
his  individuality.     At  first  the  allied  German  princes 
only  saw  a  diminution  of  their  own  power  in  the 
new  order  of  things.     But  soon  tliey  learnt  to  regard 
it  as  an  extra  guarantee  of  their  own  rights;  for 
one  of  their  own  number  it  was  who  wore  the  crown, 
and  his  fidelity  was  a  bond  of  safety  for  all.     Thus 
through  the  Emperor's  doing,  and  even  against  the 
opinion  expressed  by  Bismarck,  it  came  to  pass  that 
the  Bundesrath,  which  at  first  had  been  looked  upon 
as  the  seed-bed  of  dissension,  in  a  few  short  years 
became  the  most  reliable  guarantee  of  unity,  whilst 
the  Reichstag  drifted   into  a  helpless  plaything  of 

parties. 

"  The  Emperor  never  possessed  a  confidant  who 
advised  him  on  every  subject.  With  rare  know- 
ledge of  mankind,  he  discovered  the  best  men  to 
advise  and  assist  him.  With  the  freedom  from 
envy  only  belonging  to  a  great  heart,  he  left  full 


THE  PRUSSIAN  MONARCHY. 


8( 


•scope  to  those  he  had  tried,  but  each  one,  even 
Bismarck,  only  in  his  own  department.  He  always 
remained  Emperor,  by  whose  hands  alone  were  held 
all  the  threads  of  power. 

"  The  highest  happiness  of  his  life  came  to  him 
when,  after  having  escaped  assassination  as  if  by 
miracle,  he  met  the  enemies  of  society  with  that 
'generous  imperial  Message*  which  aimed  at  striking 
at  the  root  of  the  fundamental  evils  of  society  in 
-our  time.  Only  since  then  the  nation  thoroughly 
realized  what  it  possessed  in  its  Emperor.  A  current 
of  popular  affection  hereafter  carried  him  along. 
Europe  came  to  look  upon  the  old  warrior  as  the 
guardian  of  the  peace  of  the  world.  At  home  the 
strong  monarchical  character  of  his  government  was 
confirmed  year  by  year.  The  personal  will  of  the 
Sovereign  wielded  its  good  right  side  by  side  with 
that  of  Parliament,  and  now  with  the  warm  ap- 
proval of  better  informed  public  opinion.  The 
Germans  knew  that  their  Emperor  always  did  what 
was  right  and  necessary,  and  in  his  simple  unadorned 
language  always  'said  what  was  to  be  said,'  as 
Goethe  has  it.  Even  in  fields  of  effort  for  which 
die  had  originally  no  natural  bent,  his  innate  dis 
•  cernment  soon  found  its  bearincjs.  How  much  the 
ideal  work  of  the  nation  owes  to  him !  Yet  among 
artists  and  men  of  science  he  never  distinguished  an 
unworthy  one." 

*  The  Message  of  February  1881  to  the  working  classes. 


G 


If 


\  • 


1^»' 


S2 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


VI. 


THE  PRUSSIAN  MONARCHY. 


^^ 


We  all  remember  how  more  than  the  hopes  of 
one  nation  watched  the  sick  bed  of  his  dying  son,  as. 
we  all  know  how  they  were  doomed  to  disappoint- 
ment. The  grave  closed  over  the  purest  embodi- 
ment of  what  is  noble  in  the  German  character,  for 
Frederick  retained  the  idealism  of  youth  even  in 
middle  age.  Had  he  lived,  the  world  would  have 
seen  how  far  such  a  nature  would  have  been  able  to 
reconcile  the  diflerences  and  antagonisms  still  latent 
in  the  Fatherland. 

He  was  the  hope  of  the  advanced  Liberals,  not 
only  in  Germany,  but  beyond  its  borders.     On  the 
other  hand,  there  are  some,  and  by  no  means  the 
least  high-minded,  who   inclined  to  the  belief  that 
his  goodness  might  have  been  abused,  his  trust  mis- 
placed, and  that  he   did  not   possess  the  hardness 
necessary  to  guide  the  national  helm  in  troublous, 
times.      There    are    some   who   hold    that   a   noble 
nature  is  not  identical  with  a  good  and  great  ruler. 
It   is  no    guarantee    against    one    of    the    greatest 
dangers  of  Sovereigns— misplacing  their  confidence. 
A  trivial  matter  in  a  private  citizen,  in  a  ruler  it 
:s  often  one  of  supreme  national  importance.     Some 
critics  point  to  the  late  Emperor  William — in  this 
respect — as  almost  of  superhuman  discernment,  and 
compare   him    with    the    Emi^eror    Frederick,  who 
many  are  of  opinion  not  only  misplaced  his  con- 
fidence   in    a    physician,  but,   of    greater    moment, 
misplaced  his  confidence  in  one,  at  least,  to  whom 
he  ccnfided  his  diary.     Some,  again,  aver  that  the 


f 


influence  of  the  Emjiress  his  wife — so  well  inten- 
tioned— was  not  happy  in  this  respect.  Many 
think  Germany  is  hardly  ripe  for  that  cosmopolitan 
breadth  and  generosity  of  view  and  sympathy  that 
distinguished  Frederick  III. 

Through  his  rare  simplicity  and  affability  of 
manner  he  gained  the  popular  Iieart  as  none  had 
done  before  him;  but  whether  that  kindliness  of 
disposition,  that  earnest,  almost  feverish,  desire  for 
the  welfare  of  all,  would  have  enabled  him  to  carry 
out  his  benevolent  plans,  none  can  tell.  Some  think 
that  a  man  of  his  romantic  bent  would  have  strongly 
resented  a  misjudgment  of  his  aims.  That  he  was 
capable  of   strong,  almost  passionate,  decision,  the 

sudden  dismissal  of  Herr  von  Puttkammer the  one 

noticeable  act  of  his  short  reign — seems  to  prove. 

His  was  essentially  the  generous  temperament 
of  the  romantic  idealist;  whether  he  would  have 
shown  the  same  unimpassioned  front  to  opposition 
and  misjudgment,  the  same  greatness  of  character  in 
forgiving  it,  as  his  great  father,  the  world  can  never 
know.  Had  he  lived,  we  believe  his  rule  would 
have  proved  a  bitter  disappointment  to  some  of 
those  who  foolishly  tried  to  claim  him  as  a  par- 
tisan. 

In  many  things  the  late  Emperor  reminds  us  of 
that  noble  and  romantic  Hohenstaufen,  the  Emperor 
Frederick  II.  Full  of  the  most  ideal  and  romantic 
yearnings,  and  himself  of  the  highest  cultivation  of 
tlie  mind,  he  lived  to  see  his  plans  thwarted,  and 
then  to  die  of  a  broken  heart. 

Public  opinion,  which  showed  itself  so  ready  to 

G  2 


n 


S4  ^       IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

credit  the  late  Emperor  Frederick  with  every  possible 
virtue,  showed  its  usual  hasty  ooe-sidedness  in  nieet- 
incr  the  advent  of  the  present  young  Emperor  with 
alf  sorts  of  doubts  and  fears.  His  education  has 
fitted  him  for  his  position,  and  the  examples  of  his 
grandfather  and  father  are  ever  before  his  eyes. 
Everything  reliable  concerning  him  tends  to  prove 
that  his  is'a  character  that  may  be  trusted  to  benefit 
by  such  advantages. 

Germany  cannot  yet  afford  to  be  cosmopolitan  in 
sentiment.  She  wants  a  strong  rallying-point,  at  all 
hazards,  that  will  unite  the  nation  and  enable  it  to 
rise  above  meaner  interests  in  moments  of  supreme 

peril. 

If  the  Germany  of  to-day  is  m  want  ot  a 
thoroughly  honest,  high-minded  man,  with  strong 
national  sympathies,  with  a  romantic  love  for  the 
history  of  the  people  he  is  called  to  rule  over,  then 
surely  the  present  Emperor  will  be  found  to  exceed 
the  expectations  of  his  friends  and  to  disappoint  the 

fears  of  his  critics. 

Although  the  opinions  of  those  entrusted  with  a 
IDrince's  education  are  naturally  not  impartial,  we 
yet  think  the  following  excerpt  from  the  lately 
published  essay  on  the  character  of  the  present 
young  Emperor  by  his  tutor.  Dr.  G.  Hinzpeter, 
bears°   sufficient    evidence    of    honesty    to    deserve 

notice: — 

"One  feeling  only  rules  all  his  thought  and 
action,  nerves  his  efforts,  and  would  bid  him  stake 
all.  it  is  the  feehng  of  duty,  always  the  strongest 
and  most  effectual  instinct  of  every  member  of  his 


THE  PRUSSIAN  MONARCHY, 


85 


race.  This  it  is  tliat  will  always  bid  him,  as  the 
first  servant  of  the  State,  place  the  weal  of  all  above 
that  of  every  individual,  particularly  above  every 
personal  interest,  and  at  all  times  sacrifice  his  own 
comfort,  his  own  advantage,  even  his  own  life,  un- 
hesitatingly to  the  welfare  of  his  beloved  country." 
It  is  certainly  touching  and  interesting  to  learn 
that  the  young  Emperor  has  publicly  thanked  his 
tutor  for  this  estimate  of  his  character,  as  well 
as  HeiT  von  Treitsclike  for  the  article  quoted  on 
p.  76. 

Even  a  superficial  glance  at  what  the  Hohenzollerns 
have  been  to  their  country  bids  us  understand  that 
the  backbone  of  the  IVussian  nation  is  loth  to  pin 
its  faith  to  foreign  models  of  parliamentarism.  It 
prefers  its  own  monarchy,  in  which  the  Sovereign  is 
not  only  the  first  servant  of  the  State,  but  its°tnie 
beacon-tower  in  victory  as  well  as  in  adversity. 
Whilst  Itcpublicans  consistently  prefer  to  do  without 
heaven-born  authority,  there  may  be  some  people 
who  would  prefer  to  live  in  a  country  where  the 
fountain  of  grace  is  a  high-minded  monarch  rather 
than  the  temporary  chief  of  a  parliamentary  party. 
The  loyal  Prussians  have  more  than  an  excuse  for 
preferring  the  co-operation  of  Parliament  to  its 
autocratic  supremacy,  as  we  have  it. 

They  are  justified  in  so  doing.  With  them  loyalty 
is  not  a  middle-class  myth,  but  a  reality — notwith- 
standing Social  Democracy — pulsating  in  the  heart 
of  the  peasant,  the  educated  classes,  as  well  as  in 
that  of  the  noble  next  to  the  throne.  And  no 
wonder  it  is  so,  for  during  generations,  whilst  some 


H 


86.  IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

royal  families  have  clone  everything  to  extirpate 
such  a  feeling  in  their  own  countries,  the  Hohenzol- 
lerns  have  uniformly  fostered  and  strengthened  it. 

From  Frederick  William  I.— the  creator  ot 
Prussia's  official  organization— down  to  the  present 
day,  this  is  ever  strongly  marked. 

Whilst  the  German  aristocracy  still  chugs  to  its 
traditions  of  birth-privilege,  the  Hohenzollerns  have 
bridged  the  old  lines  of  demarcation,  and  striven  to 
attvlct   intellect  and  merit  of   every   class  within 
their  circle.    Authors,  painters,  and  men  of  science— 
invariably  the  best  of  each  class-are  not  patronized, 
but  distinguished  in  a  manner  reminding  us  of  the 
times  of  the  Medici,  and  of  Pope  Julius  II.,  who 
followed  the  sulking  Michael  Angelo  to  Bologna : 
"  In  the  stead  of  your  coming  to  us,  you  seem  to 
have  expected  that  we  should  attend  upon  you. 

Even  here  we  find  an  analogy  in  the  visit  of  tlie  late 
Emperor  William  to  Bayreuth,  although  that  ungrate- 
ful egotistical  genius,  lUchard  Wagner,  showed  him- 
self anything  but  an  appreciator  of  imperial  favour. 
>fot  only  is  every  Prussian  prince  bound  to  learn 
a  handicraft,  as  if  to  bring  his  sympatliies  within 
scope  of  the  humblest,  but  the  very  poorest  subjects 
have  ever  been  able  to  petition  the  Sovereign  direct. 
Thus  loyally  is  not  a  sentiment  of  vague  attachment 
to  an  unknown,  unseen  lay-figure,  but  is  distinctively 
personal.     It  shows  itself,  not  in  the  gratification  ot 
vulvar  curiosity— the   hunting  after   a  show ;  it  is 
sunk  deep  in  the  lieart  as  an  impetus  to  strengthen 

patriotism  and  duty. 

The  action   of   the  Hohenzollerns  has   strength- 


THE  PRUSSIAN  MONARCHY. 


87 


•ened  the  monarcliical  principle  far  beyond  the  borders 
of  tlie  Fatlierland.  We  ourselves  even  are  perliap.s 
<Iestined  to  feel  its  infiuence.  Formerly  a  spark 
would  have  sufficed  to  burst  up  most  of  the  German 
petty  royal  Courts.  The  Saxon  monarcliy  was  oniy 
saved  in  '49  by  the  I'russian  guards  sweeping  the 
■streets  of  Dresden  with  musketry.  To-day  the 
loyalty  of  the  people  of  tlie  petty  principalities  lias 
become  stronger  under  tlie  guiding  sun  of  I'russia. 
Formerly  many  of  the  best  intellects  of  Germanv 
were  Democratic,  if  not  Iiepublican ;  to-day  they  are 
Monarcliical. 

It  is  impossible  to  trtke  leave  of  tlie  Prussian 
Toyal  family  without  a  word  of  appreciation  for  one 
who,  next  to  themselves,  has  perhaps  of  royal  princes 
•done  most  for  the  cause  of  (Jernian  unity — namely, 
the  ruling  Grand  Duke  of  P>aden,  the  son-in-law  of 
the  late  Emperor  AVilliam.  In  him  Germany  pos- 
sesses a  truly  high-minded  prince.  In  the  most 
Democratic  State  of  Germany  he  is  the  most  popular 
^Sovereign.  And  fully  he  deserves  to  be  so.  He  it 
was  who,  in  '71,  helped  more  than  any  one  in  the 
•creation  of  the  German  Empire,*  and  gave  the  late 
half-crazy  King  of  Ikvaria  the  option  of  proposing 
the  measure,  determined  to  do  so  himself  in  case  of 
refusal.  And  but  yesterday,  again,  at  the  accession 
of  the  present  Emperor,  it  was  he  who,  hastening  to 
Berlin,  gave  the  example  that  induced  every  ruling 
Sovereign  of  Germany  to  bo  present  at  the  ceremony. 


*  This  assertion  has  since  been  amply  proved  by  the  publica- 
tion of  the  late  Emperor  Frederick's  diary. 


H ; 


I 


5 


(    88    ) 


PATERNAL  GOVERNMENT, 


CHAPTEK  V. 
PATEBNAL  GOYERKMENT. 

For  forms  of  government  let  fools  contest ; 
Whate'er  is  best  administered  is  best. 

Pope. 


89 


The  other  school  leans  on  the  past,  on  the  lessons 
of  the  great  epoch-making  figures   in  history,  those 
who  were  not  so  much   children   of  their  time  as 
themselves  part-creators  of  the  events  they  directed. 
It  pins  its  faith  to  a  strong  and  high-minded  mon- 
archy, assisted  by  capable  advisers,  and  working  out 
its  ruling  mission  by  harmonizing  a  strong  traditional 
State  power  with  the  just  pretension  of  the  present 
time.     This   school  holds  that  parliamentary  party 
government  is  unsuited  to  direct  the  destinies  of  a 
great  nation  ;  that  the  opinions  of  a  majority  otler 
no  guarantee  of  its  soundness. 


1    Mi 


Among  students  of  history,  as  well  as  of  politicall 
sdence,  two   schools  of  thought  stand   at   daggers 
drawn.     The  one  would  have  us  believe  that  every 
ripple  of  the  tide  in  the  affairs  of  man  is  the  result- 
of  infinite,  remote,  collective,  and  at  last  overpower- 
in-  influence  ;  something  like  the  crackmg  of  the 
earth's  crust  when  the  gases  in  its  bowels  seek  and 
find  an  outlet.     Therefore,  it  is  agamst  all   undue 
and    premature  initiative  and   interference  of    the 
State  in  the  affairs  of  the  community. 

This  is  the  thouaht  underlying  our  national  poli- 
tical organization  of  the  present  day,  and,  if  human 
temperament  may  be  brought  into  analogy  with  an 
intellectual   conviction,  it  may  safely  be  put  down 
as  a  manifestation  of  the  phlegmatic,  unimaginative, 
neaative   disposition.     It  may   be   an   unattractive 
cre'ed  to  some,  but  our  insular  position  has  allowed 
us  to  become  the  nation  we  are  whilst  practismg  it. 
So  far  as  we  are  concerned,  well  and  good. 


II. 

It  has  been  said  that  we  are  never  so  thoroughly 
in  the  right  that  our  opponents  are  wholly  in  the 
wrong.  May  it  not  be  so  with  two  opposing  schools 
of  political  thought  ?  May  not  both  be  right  in 
much,  whilst  each  bears  distinct  evidence  of  its 
peculiar  shortcomings  ? 

An  aristocratic  monarchy  run  to  seed  was  the 
cause  of  the  battle  of  Jena  and  the  temporary 
effacement  of  Prussia  from  the  map  of  Europe  as  a 
Great  Power.  The  history  of  the  decay  of  republics 
is  equally  suggestive. 

The  form  of  government  which  succeeds  best  in 
developing  the  central  idea  of  the  State,  backed  up 
by  the  best  instincts  and  unselfi^i  devotion  of  its 
subjects,  is  the  best ;  and  every  form  of  government, 
except,  perhaps,  an  elective  monarchy,  has  from  time 
to  time  succeeded  in  solving  the  problem,  and  high- 


ill 


^o  .     IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 

minded  men  have  always   been   the  means   of   its 
solution.     The  first  condition   of  every  government 
is  the  purity  of  the  fountain-head.      Every  plan  for 
the  happiness  of  man  suffers  shipwreck  when  mean 
natures  are  allowed  to  influence   its  workn\^.     The 
United  States  does  not  owe  its  greatness  merely  to 
the  chance  of  its  being  dubbed  a  republic.    America 
is  studded  with  rotten  republics,  but  the    United 
States  owes  its  stability  to  the  fact  of  its  founders 
having  been  great  characters  sprung  from  one  of  the 
iinest°races  of  manhood  in  the  world.     Turified  by  a 
baptism  of  blood,  they  framed  a  great  Constitution, 
which   tended  to   bring   out  what  was  good  in  the 
people  and  to  render  impotent  what  was  vile.     This 
€onstitntion  was  suited  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  ^ 

But  are  not,  after  all,  the  natural  conditions  of  a 
nation's  existence  the  deciding  factors  in  the  choice 
of  the  means  of  its  salvation  ?      In  other  words,  is 
not  the  race,  the  climate  of  a  country,  its  geogra- 
phical position,  a  greater  factor  than  a  chance  Con- 
;stitution  ?     Is  the  continuity  of  England's  national 
independence  and  progress  not  owing  more  to  the 
above   conditions   than  to  any  set  political  creed  ? 
Our  nolitical  system  may  have  suited  our  require- 
ments, but  the  silver  streak  that  separates  us  from 
the  Continent  fixed  their  character. 

One  of  the  reasons  why  some  nations  have  an  in- 
stinctive antipathy  to  a  powerful  executive  is  that  they 
have  never  known  any  that  was  not  at  the  same  time 
thoroughly  rotten  and  corrupt.  Supposing  the  choice 
should'' lie  between  a  vicious  paternal  government 
and  a  corrupt  Parliament,  it  is  natural  to  hesitate. 


PATERNAL  GOVERNMENT. 


91 


Thus,  in  our  country  we  are  brought  up  to  look 
askance  at  State  interference  and,  above  all,  at 
''  granchnotherly  legislation."  Up  to  the  present,  cir- 
cumstances liave  enabled  us  to  feel  that  we  were 
justified  in  doing  so,  and  Manchester  theories  may 
be  all  very  well  when  there  are  no  frontiers  to  guard, 
no  external  enemies  to  threaten.  If,  however,  such 
be  not  the  fortunate  condition  of  a  nation,  and  its 
whole  destiny  and  policy  are  to  be  evolved  from  the 
free  expression  of  public  opinion,  then  the  success 
of  Louis  XIV.  dragonading  the  Palatinate,  and  the 
€ase  with  which  the  left  bank  of  the  Inline  subse- 
quently  became  French  in  sympathies,  show  us  what 
to  expect !  High  aims  dwell  only  in  the  few  high- 
strung  natures,  whatever  their  birth. 


I 


III. 

One  consideration  we  cannot  shut  our  eyes  to 
—namely,  that  no  country  can  possibly  formulate 
its  laws  and  policy  by  the  gradual  irresistible  ex- 
pression of  public  opinion,  unless  the  following  sim- 
qud-non  conditions  are  existent,  and  allow  a  strong 
liealthy  public  opinion  to  come  into  being : — 

1.  National  independence. 

2.  Strong,  healthy,  national  self-consciousness. 

3.  Pinal  subordination  of  class  interest  to  the 
welfai-e  of  the  State. 

Till  lately  Germany  possessed  neither  of  tliese 
three  indispensable  qualifications,  and  without  them 
it  was  useless  to  talk  of  a  nation's  public  opinion. 
The  want  of  them  not  only  caused  the  dismember- 


'H 


92  IMPERIAL  GERMANY^ 

nient  of  the  old  German  Empire  and  made  Germany 
the  battle-field  of  Europe  for  two  centuries,  but  pre- 
•  eluded  the  possibility  of  a  public  opinion  coming 
into  existence  that  could  have  materially  helped  to 
produce  them.     They  had  to  be  created  against  the 
machinations  of  old  and  powerful  enemies  at  home 
and   abroad.     If   France   had  understood  her  true 
policy,  German  unity  never  would  have  been  ac 
complished.     Thus,  the  three  necessary  qualities  of 
national  life  had  to  be  conquered,  and  genius  alone 
could  hold  aloft  the  banner  round  which  those  could 
con<rregate  who  were  resolved  to  do  or  die  m  their 
attainment.     Elements  had  to  be  called  upon  ready 
to  shed  blood— their  own  and  their  enemies . 

The  wealthy  middle  classes  of  to-day,  for  instance, 
are  distinctly  averse  to  blood-letting.  And  yet  in  time 
and  season  there  is  no  cement  like  blood !  Even 
the  history  of  the  greatest  republic  of  our  tune— the 
United  States,  a  country  the  practical  philanthropy 
of  which  none  can  deny— absolutely  proves  that. 

Thus  the  Germans  shed  blood— rivers  01  it— and 
attained    national  independence  !      But   even  now 
they  only  hold  it  by  the  power   of  the   sword ;  for 
national  consciousness    has     not   yet   had   time   to 
harden,  and   the  feeling  of   subordination    of   class 
interests  is  still  very  sickly,  as  also  the  feeling  of 
patriotism   in   sundry  places.      Yet   they  can  only 
hope  to  retain  what  they  have  gained,  by  strengthen- 
incr  those  qualities  that  are  still  unreliable.     Hence 
the  straining  of  every  nerve  by  their  rulers  to  attain 
that  end,  and  paternal  government,  based  on  the  co- 
operation of  all,  is  the  means  to  that  end. 


PATERNAL  GOVERNMENT. 


IV. 


93 


A  strong,  healthy  public    opinion,  born  of  a  long  ^ 
:and  prosperous  education,  that  might  dispense  with 
paternal  government  and  work  out  its  own  will  un- 
fettered, does  not,  and  cannot,  exist  as  yet.     Amono- 
other  things,  the  small  interest  shown   at  elections 
proves  this.    For  the  Social  Democrats  are  at  present 
the  most  earnest  political  party  in  Germany,  judging 
by  polling  results.      It  should  also  be  remembered 
that  there  public  opinion  was  never  intended  to  rule 
directly,  as  it  does  with  us ;  at  most  only  indirectly, 
by   entrusting  men  of  mark  with  the  direction  of 
•affairs.      When   public  opinion  has    no   longer   the 
"  touch''  to  recognize   such,  it  is  time  for  it°to  give 
way,  and  allow  something  healthier  to  take  its  place. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  that  what  has  been  gained 
is  distinctly  traceable  to  the  action  of  genius^'guid- 
ing  the  sword,  there  is  still  a  strong  party  in^Ger- 
many  that  believes  in  English  political  methods. 
They  would  fain  see  our  principles  adopted,  and 
prophesy  all  sorts  of  evil  from  their  non-acceptance. 
Their  adherents  fail  to  see  that  their  countrymen 
had  no  choice ;  they  had  either  to  accept  salvation 
the  way  it  came,  or  go  on  in  the  hopeless  helpless- 
ness of  the  past ! 

The  Germans  had  no  independent  leisure  to  work 
out  their  political  and  economical  life  according  to 
laisscz-fairc  principles.  They  could  not  afford  to^'ask 
themselves  whether  great  men  come  too  rarely  to 
entrust  one,  when  he  does  appear,  with  powers  that 
*'  might "  descend  to  reckless  or  unworthy  wielders. 


94  .     IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

The  circumstances  oE   the  country's  existence   left 
them  no  choice  but  to  be  thankful  when  light  did 

'^tt' was  individual  genius  that  burst  the  shutter, 
of  mediaeval    darkness,   and    hailed    the    dawn    of 
\  new  era,  when  Luther  uttered  those  memorable 
tvords  at  Worms :  "  Hier  steh'  ich.     Ich  kann  mcht 
Inders.    Gott  helfe  mir.    Amen!"*     It  was  the  lack 
of  national  consciousness,  the  w-ant  of  national  mde. 
pendence    and  of  the   due   subordmation  of  petty 
rulin-  interests,  that  robbed  the  German  nation  of 
the  ii^rst-fruits  of  what  has  since  become  the  common 
property  of  mankind.    It  was  the  possession  of  those 
requisites  in  England  that  enabled  us  to  bold  up     - 
standard  of   the  Eeformation  against  the  Catholic 

DOwer  of  Spain.  ,  .       . 

A"ain,  in  our   time  we  see  national  genius  in 
Germany,   having  achieved    independence,   striving 
honestly   to    attain    national    well-being    and    en- 
deavouring to  strengthen  the  sentiment  of  national 
coLciousitess.     It  asks  all  classes  alike  to  co-operate 
in  the  work  of  national  greatness.     No  country  was 
in  such  need   of  great   men,  and  in    ew  countries 
hitherto  have  the  masses  been  so  unable  to  realize 
the  imperious  necessity  of  their  advent. 

■Whereas  there  is  not  an  Italian  living  that  does 
not  mourn  the  death  of  favour,  there  are  yet  many 
^en  in  Germany  who  would  welcome  the  death  of 
Bismarck ! 

*  Here  I  stand.    I  cannot  do  otherwise.    God  help  me.    Amen  I 


PATERNAL  GOVERNMENT. 


9> 


V. 

To  judge  the  atmospherical  conditions  of  a  room 
full  of  people,  you  must  come  in  from  the  open  air, 
and  you  will  soon  notice  in  how  far  they  differ 
from  natural  ones.  A  nation's  civilization  is  like 
artificial  temperature  :  you  must  gauge  it  from  out- 
side ;  you  nmst  compare  it. 

Is  Germany's  greatness  a  plant  of  recent  and 
tender  growth  that  requires  constant  care  in  order 
to  enable  it  to  develop  in  the  future  and  stand 
on  its  own  merits,  a  bulwark  of  civilization  in 
Europe  ?     We  think  it  is. 

Are  those  who  are  responsible  for  its  destinies 
conscious  of  the  difficulties  of  the  task  before  them, 
and  honestly  intent  on  meeting  them  and  doing  their 
best  in  the  best  available  manner  in  that  dire'ction  T 
AVe  feel  convinced  tliat  they  are,  and  we  will  en^ 
deavour  to  point  out  in  how  far  we  can  show  reason 
for  believing  this. 

One  of  the  reasons  the  French  so  easily  gained 
popularity  on  the  left  bank  of  the  llhine  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  century  was,  that  they  represented  a 
young,  healthy,  popular  principle  and  the  Germans 
an  old,  antiquated,  feudal  system. 

The  principal  reason  why  the  Alsacians  so  soon 
lost  the  old  ties  with  the  German  Empire  (for  Strass- 
burg  was  treacherously  seized  upon  by  Louis  XIV.  in 
the  midst  of  peace)  and  still  partially  cling  to  France 
was,  that  they  grew  into  the  traditions  of  the  powerful 
State  they  joined,  and  left  none  of  a  sterlini^  nature 
behind  to    deplore   the  loss  of.     The  old  German 


o6  IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

Empire  was  effete,  if  not  rotten  to  the  core,  and  when 
L^French  Eevolution  came  it  found  the  A^^^^^^^^^^^ 
belonging  to  a  nation  that  proclaimed  the      Eights 
o   Ma^n;' and,  easting  medi.val  lumber  to  the  flames 
declared  every  channel  open  to  the  ambition  of  the 
tmblest.     sLll  wonder  the  good  Alsacian  peasan  s 
Ind  burohers  were  proud  of  their  new  country,  and 
f oTgot  the  violent  manner  in  which  their  new  pater- 

nity  was  foisted  on  them  1  .  -.      •        i     .^ 

kw  all  this  has  changed,  and  the  Alsacians  have 

only  to  rub  their  eyes  in  order  to  see  that  m  coming 

back  to  their  original  ^f-^-^/^^^-JfT^nrre 
back  to  the  victorious  mother-country  with  far  more 
totmptthem  than  the  country  that  treated    hem 
so  stepmotherly  whilst  they  belonged  to  it.     If  the 
SsacLs  were  practical  Englishmen  they  ^^^^^^^^^ 
th^  position  of  affairs  in  a  trice,  and,  after  the  last 
fa^'s  and.up  fight,  make  the  best  of  it  and  be  friends 
with  the  new  order  of  things.     But  the  poor  Alsa- 
dans  are  sentimental  Germans ;  they  feel  the  sorrows 
of  their  late  fellow-countrymen,  and,  m  their  sym- 
T3athy  are  still  blind  to  their  own  interests  and  to 
tCr'e'al  facts  of  the  case.    Time  will  enligliten  them 
and  a  strong,  healthy,  paternal  government-not  one 
Tia  Metternich,   but  conducted   in  harmony  with 
the  spirit  of  the  age-will  assist  in  doing  so. 

VI. 

German  Liberals  chafe  under  the  restraints  of 
their  paternal  government,  and  doubtless  the  stem 
system  that  holds  them  together  has  its  drawbacks. 


PATERNAL  GOVERNMENT. 


97 


They  would  prefer  public  opinion,  expressed  through 
their  party,  to  rule  the  nation  and  supply  its  needs. 
A  look  at  their  past  efforts  in  this  direction  and  at 
their  latest  action  does  not  lead  an  on-looker  to  feel 
that  Germany  is  ripe  for  that  humanitarian  demo- 
cracy which  substitutes  the  tyranny  of  the  many  for 
the  honest  and  conscientious  effort  of  a  concentrated 
executive. 

If  it  be  granted  that  a  strong  military  govern- 
ment is  a  sine  ciud  non  of  the  nation's  existence 

and  that  cannot  be  denied,  though  it  may  be  de- 
plored— then  the  dissatisfaction  at  its  unavoidable 
drawbacks  must  be  taken  for  what  it  is  worth. 
Without  underrating  the  great  value  of  a  strong 
and  healthy  public  opinion,  it  is  yet  permissible  to 
hold  that  its  expression  is  not  tlie  only  source  of 
salvation  of  a  country,  the  less  so  as  it  is  likely  to 
wield  as  much  power  when  diseased  as  when  it  is 
sound.  We  ourselves  have  been  saved  by  miracle 
from  the  consequences  of  some  of  its  diseased  mani- 
festations. The  cry  of  misery  and  despair  of  mil- 
lions has  forced  pubHc  opinion  to  remedy  some  of 
our  imperious  wants,  but  much  remains  undone  that 
paternal  government  in  Germany  has  accomplished, 
as  a  few  illustrations  later  on  may  enable  us  to  jud^e. 

An  EngHsh  M.P.  writes  to  the  Times  deploring 
that  a  public  meeting  cannot  be  held  in  Berlin 
without  the  presence  of  a  police  agent,  who  can 
close  it  at  a  moment's  notice.  This  is  a  sad  truth  ; 
but  the  freedom  of  talk  has  not  yet  led  to  a  mil- 
lennium in  other  countries.  Par  from  it.  The  un- 
limited   free    expression    of    public    opinion    is  all 

ir 


!    I 


1 1 


gs  IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

very  well  where  there  are  no  enemies  at  the  gates ; 
but  it  is  a  dangerous  pastime  for  a  nation  that  may 
be  called  upon  to-morrow  to  fight  for  its  existence, 
which  may  be  jeopardized  by  talk.  Germany  is  not 
stable  enough  to  allow  itself  such  a  luxury. 

If  the  happiness  of  the  greatest  number  be— once 
national  independence  secured— the  end  and  aim  of 
all  croveinment,  it  is  but  fair  to  take  a  glance  and 
coiupare,  as  far  as  possible,  in  how  far  paternal 
crovemment  endeavours  to  secure  that  end.  _ 

°  In  the  first  place,  the  ascendancy  of  Trussia,  which 
led  to  German  unity,  was  gained  against  the  almost 
universal  expression  of  public  opinion.  Public 
ophiion  has  since  recanted  in  this  instance,  and  thus 
the  book  is  closed ;  but  history  is  nevertheless  bound 
to  take  note  of  the  fact. 

Unity  accomplished,  Germany  expected  to  see 
capable"  conscientious  men  at  the  head  of  every 
department  of  the  State.  We  know  how  uniformly 
these  expectations  have  hitherto  been  realized.  This 
has  all  been  done  without  the  assistance  of  public 
opinion  to  guide  the  choice  of  the  directing  minds. 
But  neither  was  it  necessary.  Without  the  action 
of  public  opinion,  the  shaft  of  duty  is  sunk  deep 
in  the  heart  and  mind  of  the  people  and  its  rulers ; 
it  has  done  far  more  than  any  religious  dogma  m 
our  day  to  combat  and  nullify  the  meaner  instincts 

of  human  nature. 

With  us  public  opinion  is  invariably  surprised 

and  extravagantly  grateful  when  it  finds  anybody 

equal  to  the  emergencies  of  a  position  of  respou- 

\sibility.     And,   unfortunately,   ignominious   faUure, 


PATERNAL  GOVERNMENT. 


99 


/ 


even  involving  disaster  and  national  humiliation, 
still  allows  a  man  to  pose  in  public  as  the  expresser 
of  the  sentiments  of  the  nation. 

Tlie  uniform  success  of  German  foreign  policy  in 
its  broad  outhnes  is  well  known  and  admitted  on 
every  hand,  even  down  to  the  Bulgarian  Battenberg 
incident,  which  public  opinion  w\as  only  too  willing 
to  fan  into  a  European  conflagration,  until  stopped 
by  a  jet  of  cold  water  from  l^erlin. 

Not  so  well  known  may  be  the  success  of 
Prussia  in  conciliating  the  countries  annexed  in  '64 
and  '66.  Schleswig-Holstein,  that  certain  Powers 
wished  to  protect  against  itself,  is  thoroughly  German 
to-day.  The  Electorate  of  Hesse-Cassel  is  tho- 
roughly Prussianized,  and  as  for  Hanover,  the  great 
centre  of  Guelphic  memories  and  partisanship,  the 
freely  elected  last  Parliament  (Landtag)  of  Hanover 
only  showed  three  Guelphic  adherents,  against  tw^enty- 
eight  belonging  to  the  Bismarckian  National  Liberal 
party.  Alsace,  it  is  true,  is  a  long  way  off  such  a 
satisfactory  state  of  things  ;  but  it  will  come — gradu- 
ally, but  surely. 

Even  the  conciliation  of  a  single  town  has  not 
been  beneath  the  earnest  attention  of  paternal 
government.  The  town  of  Erankfort,  after  being 
terribly  frightened  and  feeling  the  grip  of  the 
conqueror  round  its  neck,  has  since  been  petted  and 
pampered  in  every  conceivable  way.  Showy  cavalry 
regiments  were  quartered  in  the  town  to  see  what 
effect  bright  colours  and  the  savoir  fairc  of  the  elite 
of  officers  could  have  on  the  female  heart;  the 
Emperor  came  repeatedly  in  person ;  even  the  treaty 

H  2 


loo  IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

of  71  ^vas  signed  in  l>ankfort-on-tlie-Main.  Thus, 
the  commerce-gorged  citizen  of  that  ilk,  after  ravmg 
at  the  wickedness  of  Prussia,  and  acceptnig  Swiss 
naturalization  in  order  to  avoid  military  service  has 
loner  since  come  back  to  the  Prussian  sheepfold, 
humble  and  full  of  contrition.  And  to-day  the 
bleary  eye  of  the  regulation  type  of  Irankfort 
patrician  lights  up  when  he  is  privileged  to  pour  nis 
sincr-son-  dialect  into  the  ear  of  the  youngest  long- 
suffering  Prussian  subaltern.  Thus  the  Prussians, 
after  meeting  a  world  in  arms,  have  shown  that^they 
understand  the  more  subtle  art  of  stroking  the  backs 
of  their  newly  annexed  subjects  ;  and  to-day  no  more 
loyal  subjects  exist  than  the  good  burghers  of  the 
town  of  Prankfort-on-the-Main. 


YII. 

The  victory  was  won ;  but  it  only  urged  paternal 
government  to  criticize  and  amend  a    system    the 
success  of  which  had  dazzled  the  world.     All  Europe 
was  anxious  to  copy  what  had  produced  such  results  ; 
it  impressed  everybody  but  its  authors.     They  set  to 
work  to  improve  it,  and  the  result  is  that  the  army  of 
to-day  is  no  longer  the  army  of  1870.     The  military 
authorities  have  devoted  eighteen-years'  unremitting 
work  to  its  improvemem.     What  this  means  will  be 
brought  home  to  the  reader  when  we  recall  the  histori- 
cal fa'^ct  that  the  organization  andarmament  of  our  army 
on  the  outbreak  of  the  Crimean  War  differed  very 
little  from  that  of  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Waterloo. 
What    paternal    government    has    done    for    the 


PATERNAL  GOVERNMENT. 


loi 


defences  of  the  country  is  patent  to  the  world.  Put 
its  silent,  hidden  action  is  even  more  instructive  than 
its  outward  achievements.  Whilst  public  opinion 
in  France  is  deliglited  witli  the  perforating  effects 
of  the  new  Lebel  rifle  on  pauper  corpses,  whilst  we 
wake  up  to  find  the  millions  spent  on  our  rifles, 
our  ships,  and  our  guns  squandered,  paternal  govern- 
ment in  Germany  has  quietly  seen  to  the  efficiency 
of  the  last  button  of  the  l*om3ranian's  uniform  ! 

Public  opinion  breathes  not  a  word — no  news- 
paper propaganda — but  eyes  that  never  close  watch 
the  frontiers  of  the  Fatherland  !  In  the  west  the 
fortresses  of  ]\Ietz  and  Strasburg  look  so  radiantly 
innocent  on  a  bright  summer's  day,  you  would  hardly 
fancy  that,  unheeded  by  public  opinion,  they  have 
been  so  strengthened  and  enlarged  that  those  wiio 
were  familiar  with  them  now  hardly  recognize  them. 
But  strategists  know  that  a  sea  of  a  quarter  of  a 
million  of  men  might  well  pause  for  fear  of  breaking 
its  waves  against  their  buttresses  in  vain ! 

While  we,  after  converting  the  Enfield  rifle  into 
the  Snider,  discarded  it  and  spent  millions  on  the 
Martini  only  again  to  find  it  obsolete  to-day,  paternal 
government  immediately  after  '70  introduced  the 
Mauser  rifle,*  which  even  now,  after  seventeen 
years,  can  still  be  safely  looked  upon  as  equal  to  any 
emergency.  And  here  we  are  struck  by  a  markea 
contrast.  Whilst  we  in  England  make  the  best 
articles,  our  Government  generally  secures  the  worst 
at  the  dearest  price.     In  Germany,  the  home  of  the 

*  This  statement  is  not  invalidated  by  the  recent  introduction 
of  the  repeating  rifle. 


,T= 


1 02 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


PATERNAL  GOVERNMENT. 


103 


cheap  and  nasty,  the  Goveinment  always  secures  the 
best  article  at  a  low  price. 

Nothing,   however   trivial,  is   too   small    for    the 
attention  ""of  paternal  government.     Ever  since  71 
a  ceaseless,  but  severely  systematic,  series  of   trials 
has  been  going  on  to  improve  every  article  of  equip- 
ment of  the  coimuon  soldier.     Companies  are  sent 
on  forced  marches  to  test  the  value  of  new  knap- 
sacks, new   gaiters ;    even   new  drinking  flasks  are 
tried '  and  the   common  soldier  interrogated  by  the 
Emperor  as  to  how  he  is  satisfied  with  them.    With 
us    according   to   the   latest  newspaper   disclosures, 
our  soldiers  are  defectively  fed   in  time   of  peace 
Only    lately,    in    Germany,  a    new    kind  of  bread 
has  been   tested  to  replace  the   old   mihtary   Com- 
onishrocl     It  is  not  submitted  to  the  apathetic  eye 
of  some  mighty  othcial,  backed  by  the  recommenda- 
tion of   those  who  have  an  interest  in   getting  the 
contract  to  supply  the  army  with  bread.      Paternal 
(government  does  not  work  like  that.     The  advan- 
ta<^es  possessed  by  the  new  bread  are  set  forth,  and, 
after   their  conscientious  scrutiny,  the  Ministry  of 
War  give  orders  that   it   shall  be  tried  temporarily 
for  a  period  of  three  montlis  in  a  number  of  large 
o-arrisons,  and  the  reports  collected  and  compared. 
Only  if  favourable  will  the  new  bread  be  immediately 
introduced  into  the  whole  army.     If  such  attention 
is  bestowed  on  details,  the  reader  can  imagine  what 
the   work  of  paternal    government   has  been  with 
YQcrenxl  to   more    important    matters.     A  friend    of 
oifrs    the  hcavAcUal  of  a  Prussian  officer,  who  had 
passed  through  the  war  of  '70  as  a  lieutenant,  had 


lately  gone  through  the  six  weeks'  training  necessary 
to  qualify  him  for  the  rank  of  captain.  He  told  us  : 
"  It  is  shiiply  unbelievable  wdiat  they  ask  of  us  now. 
I  only  wonder  I  was  able  to  live  through  it  all." 
Such  are  the  tests  of  efficiency  required  nowadays 
in  the  Prussian  army  !  If  such  be  the  severity  with 
regard  to  petty  officers,  nobody  will  be  surprised  to 
learn  that  the  w^eeding  out  that  has  been  going  on 
in  the  higher  branches  of  the  service  is  of  a  stern 
and  radical  kind.  As  pointed  out  elsewhere,  neither 
past  services,  nor  influence,  nor  family  connections, 
are  allowed  to  sway  the  dispositions  of  paternal 
government.  Since  the  accession  of  the  present 
young  Emperor  already  a  number  of  beneficial 
changes  have  taken  place  that  the  old  Emperor 
William,  from  personal  ties,  could  not  bring  him- 
self to  make  ! 

What  paternal  government  has  done  for  the 
education  of  the  country,  primary,  classical,  and 
technical,  has  been  referred  to  elsewhere,  and  is 
besides  too  well  known  to  require  further  mention. 

Having  provided  the  nation  with  food  for  the 
mind,  the  best  of  its  class,  paternal  government 
proceeds  to  see  that  the  food  of  the  body  is  not 
adulterated— no  slight  task  among  a  people  which, 
in  commerce,  lays  its  hands  upon  everything  and 
counterfeits  everything  it  can  lay  its  hands  on  ! 

Whilst,  in  new-born  Italy,*  constitutional  Austria, 

*  The  chemical  examination  of  a  so-called  Italian  "  Magliani  " 
cigar,  made  by  the  Government  in  Piacenza,  will  give  an  idea  to 
what  extent  adulteration  is  practised  in  the  sunny  South.  The 
cigar  in  question  contained— (i)  A  piece  of  lime  ;  (2)  powdered 


I04 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


PATERXAL  GOVERNMENT. 


105 


parliamentary  England,  republican  France,  and  de- 
mocratic America  *  adulteration  of  every  article  of 
food  is  rampant,  the  paternal  laws  of  Germany  are 
of  a  nature  to  stop  the  most  hardened  offender.  For 
the  law  provides  that  those  who  sell  an  adulterated 
article — even  if  proved  ignorant  of  the  offence — are 
liable  to  fine  and  imprisonment.  And  how  that  law 
is  administered  !  !  !  In  England,  the  spirit  of  the 
middle  classes  tells  us,  through  John  Bright,  that 
adulteration  is  only  a  form  of  competition ! 

Whilst  public  opinion  in  England  allows  not  only 
the  legitimation  of  quack  medicines,  but  the  realiza- 


gypsum ;  (3)  a  quantity  of  humus ;  (4)  a  piece  of  wood ;  (5)  a  piece 
of  string.  As  a  Koman  newspaper  sarcastically  put  it,  a  mason 
with  his  trowel  was  only  wanting  in  conjunction  with  a  dozen 
such  cigars  in  order  to  build  a  six-storied  palace  ;  the  necessary 
materials  were  all  there. 

*  In  reference  to  adulteration  in  the  United  States,  it  is  a  sad 
fact  that  there  is  not  a  single  article  of  food  which  can  be  adul- 
terated with  profit  that  is  not  adulterated.    Sugar  is  adulterated 
to  such  an  extent  that  the  diseases  of  the  kidneys  so  frequent 
in  the  States  can  be  partly  traced  to  the  acids  used  in  refining 
sugar.   Powdered  soapstone  is  added  to  sugar  in  order  to  increase 
its  weight.    Such  a  thing  as  unadulterated  sugar  is  hardly  known. 
Such  a  thing  as  unadulterated  treacle  (molasses)  is  hardly  known. 
Honey  is  produced  artificially  with  hardly  more  of  the  real  article 
in  it  than  is  necessary  to  give  it  a  taste.     Tea  and  coffee  are  adul- 
terated as  a  matter  of  course.     Adulterated  lard  and  butter  are 
staple  market  commodities.     The  adulteration  of  cheese  has 
reached  such  a  pitch  that  the  export  of  this  article,  which  was 
14  million  pounds  in  1881,  has  receded  to  6\  million  pounds  to- 
dav.     Beer  is  adulterated  with  rice,  glucose,  and  several  noxious 
drugs.     Lastly,  suet  is  adulterated  with  cotton  oil.     The  above 
facts  are  vouched  for  by  the   Commercial   Gazette,   which  is  the 
Price    Current    of    Cincinnati;     the    Cleveland    Anzeiger,    and 
other  American  papers. 


tion  also  oi  £1  50,000  a  year  to  the  revenue  by  their 
taxation,  the  Prussian  Government  either  forbids 
their  sale  if  poisonous,  or  analyses  them  and  causes 
their  w^orthlessness  to  be  made  officially  public,  as 
in  the  following  instance  : — 

''  Warning  against  Patent  Medicines. — An  official 
scientific  analysis  of  a  medicine  advertised  under 
the  name  of  '  Schlagwasser,'  manufactured  by  Eoman 
Weissmann  in  Vilshofen,  has  shown  the  following: : 
It  consists  of  nothing  else  save  a  little  tincture 
of  ratanhia,  or  kino,  mixed  with  tincture  of  arnica, 
the  value  of  which  is  between  2ld.  and  '^hL,  whereas 
it  is  sold  at  85.  a  bottle.  It  is  self-evident  that 
this  decoction  does  not  possess  the  virtues  attributed 
to  it.^' 

Hardly  a  favourable  advertisement,  the  above  ! 
or  one  likely  to  increase  the  sale  of  patent  medi- 
cines ! 

In  England,  such  beneficial  announcements  are 
left  to  the  initiative  of  the  Press,  which  (except  in 
rare  cases,  such  as  lately  the  Saturday  Hevicw)  does 
not  publish  them,  as  many  papers  draw  a  large 
income  from  advertising  23atent  medicines. 

VIII. 

After  safe-sfuardinGf  the  national  existence  and 
its  bodily  health,  paternal  government  energetically 
pursues  its  care  for  the  well-being  and  happiness  of 
the  greatest  number  in  all  the  branches  of  this  diffi- 
cult task. 

Subordinate  to  the  Imperial  Eeichstag,  but  inde- 


it 


I  i  id 


io6  IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

pendent  in  its  own  sphere  of  action,  each  German 
State  possesses  its  own  Parliament.  And  mstead 
of  contributing  to  foment  petty  rivalries,  as  of  old, 
these  Parliaments  now  attend  to  the  legitnnate 
satisfaction  of  local  wants— the  most  perfect  form 
of  local  government.  ^ 

The  Bimdesrath  (Federal  Council),  in  which  every 
smaller  State  is  represented  and  can  exercise  a 
fair  share  of  influence,  has  proved  itself  an  excellent 
guardian  of  the  national  interests. 

When    Germany  was    re-organized   after    '70,  a 
perfect  Babel  of  conflicting  law-codes  were  found  m 
force.    For  instance,  Bavaria  alone  possessed  seventy- 
eioht  difterent  civil  codes ;  such  towns  as  Bamberg 
Nuremberg,  and  Augsburg    each  having   a    special 
law-code  of  its  own.     A  commission  has  been  work- 
in^  for  eight  years  at  the  new  uniform  civil  code 
for  the  Empire.     It  is  now  submitted  to  the  criti- 
cism of  practical  lawyers  previous  to  its  universal  in- 
troduction, which  will  take  place  gradually,  perhaps 
in  three  years,  without  any  parliamentary  debates. 
The  new  commercial  and  criminal  laws  (Bcichsgesctz) 
are  already  in  force  ;  the  highest  tribunal  is  situated 
outside  of  Prussia  proper,  in  Leipsic.      It  is  indeed, 
according  to  universal  testimony,  a  marvellous  monu- 
ment of  erudition  and  honest  efl'ort  to  reconcile  con- 
flicting interpretations  of  law,  and  to  meet  the  legal 
wants'^of  the  nation  in  the  spirit  of  the  time. 

Not  only  is  law  cheap  in  Germany— perhaps  m 
some  ways  too  cheap-but  it  is  in  stern  reality 
the  same  for  the  rich  and  the  poor.  The  system  of 
admitting  to  bail,  one  that  tends  to  favour  the  rich, 


PATERNAL  GOVERNMENT, 


107 


and  one  that  is  so  often  abused,  is  very  limited. 
No  offence  punishable  by  more  than  a  year's  im- 
prisonment is  bailable  at  all.  This  may  be  a  hard- 
ship in  a  few  cases,  but  it  is  a  strong  point 
nevertheless.  Whether  it  be  an  Ambassador  or  a 
Professor — for  the  higher  the  position  and  capacity 
of  doing  harm,  the  greater  the  ddlit — who  is  accused 
of  a  serious  crime,  he  stands  on  no  better  footing 
than  the  humblest  transgressor  of  the  laws. 

The  transfer  of  land,  with  us  one  of  the  costliest 
and  most  doubtful  parts  of  our  conveyancing  system, 
is  prompt,  sure,  and  cheap  in  (Germany. 

Benefiting  by  the  dreadful  experience  of  specu- 
lation and  commercial  ruin  in  the  years  '73-'74, 
the  laws  affecting  commercial  companies,  fraudulent 
l)ankruptcy,  and  embezzlement  have  been  entirely 
recast,  whereas  wo  are  still  unable  to  get  two  judges 
to  a^ree  to  one  definition  of  the  law  on  embezzle- 
ment.  Thus  it  is  not  surprising  that,  since  the  great 
"crash"  (Krach)  of  'y;^,  there  has  been  com- 
paratively little  share-company  swindling  in  Ger- 
many, although,  in  the  meantime,  P>eiiin  is  fast 
outstripping  Paris  as  a  money  market.  During 
the  same  period  we  have  witnessed  the  failure  of 
the  Glasgow  J5ank,  of  the  Cardiff  Savings'  Bank, 
of  Greenways'  IJank,  not  to  mention  the  many 
millions  the  public  has  lost  through  other  limited 
liability  companies,  bringing  ruin  and  misery  to 
thousands. 

Again,  whilst  the  administration  of  maoy  of  our 
petty  savings'-banks,  of  our  hospitals,  and  other 
charities  has  been  impeached  in  public  and  shown 


io8 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


PA  TERNAL  GO  VERNMENT. 


109 


to  be  wasteful,  if  not  worse,  the  same  classes  of  insti- 
tution in  Germany  are  more  or  less  controlled  by 
the  State,  and  show  a  wonderfully  clean  record. 

The  social  laws  re  divorce,  illegitimacy,  have 
not  the  draconic  character  of  our  own;  they  are 
more  humane,  and  yet  we  liave  to  learn  that  there 
is  less  domestic  happiness  or  more  innnorality  in 
Germany  than  with  us. 

The  guardianship  of  lunatics  is  under  the  direct 
control  of  the  State,  and  such  scandals  as  we  have 
witnessed  in  connection  with  our  private  lunatic 
asylums  are  unknown  in  Germany. 

Spendthrifts  are,  and  habitual  drunkards  soon 
will  be,  deprived  of  the  unlimited  control  of  their 
fortunes,  and  although  we  are  suspicious  of  such 
laws,  fearing  they  might  be  abused,  as  they  inevit- 
ably would  be  with  us,  there  is  no  fear  of  that  in 

Germany. 

In    fact,  the  one   failing   of   this    stern   paternal 

crovernment  is  its  humanitarianism :  its  criminal  code 

is  far  more   merciful   than   our   own,  and,    up   till 

lately,  there  was  a  strong  probability  of  the  total 

abolition    of    the   death    penalty.     The   murderous 

attempts  of  the  Socialists  came  in  time  to  furnish  a 

suitable  occasion  to  reinstate  it.     Ihit  the  attempts 

on  the  late  Emperor's   life,  far   from   blinding   the 

Government   to   the   misery  of   the   poor   and   the 

legitimate  aspirations  of   the  working  classes,  only 

seemed  to  direct  attention  to  tli^m  ;  not  in  craven 

cowardice,  but  in  a  genuine  concern  for  the  welfare 

of  the  people.     The  Imperial  Message  of  February 

1 8  8 1  to  the  Keichstag  brought  forward  the  earnest 


wish  of  the  Emperor  himself  to  initiate  legislation 
to  improve  the  lot  of  the  working-man.  Since  then 
the  laws  for  the  benefit  of  the  working-classes  have 
come  into  existence. 

It  is  as  yet  impossible  to  gauge  their  benefit ;  but 
the  Imperial  recognition  of  the  right  of  the  humblest 
to  the  consideration  of  the  State  must  remain  a  grand 
monument  to  the  honour  of  paternal  government. 

IX. 

Passinfi"  from  a  consideration  of   the  laws  of  the 

.0 

country  again  to  the  activity  of  the  State  as  an 
administrator,  we  find  a  model  bureaucracy  doing  in 
civil  life  the  part  of  the  army  as  a  defender  against 
outward  aggression. 

The  German  postal  service  has  become  the  pattern 
for  all  other  countries.  Nothing  is  too  trivial  for  its 
attention,  and  nothing  too  remote  to  escape  its  eye. 
Whereas  we  have  for  many  years  put  up  with  the 
disgraceful  mail  service  between  this  country  and 
the  Continent  via  Belgium,*  and  paid  a  ridiculous 
price  for  its  transit  vicl  Ostend,  the  Germans  took 
the  initiative  by  sending  their  mails  via  Flushing ; 
and  now  that  we  have  joined  their  protests  against 
the  scandals  of  the  Ostend  line,  the  Belgians  have 
been  forced  to  put  on  new  steamers. 


*  Not  to  forget  the  scandalous  passenger  service  through 
France  and  Belgium.  Here  German  paternal  government,  by  its 
co-operation  with  the  Dutch  Government,  succeeded  in  starting 
the  quick  through  service  via  Flushing  to  Berlin,  and  has  thus 
rendered  signal  service  to  the  travelling  community. 


no 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


PATERNAL  GOVERNMENT. 


Ill 


The  parcel-post  service,  wliicli  is  cheaper  than 
our  own,  and  which  we  copied  from  Germany,  shows 
a  surplus,  whereas  ours  shows  a  deficit. 

In  the  telegraph  system  the  Germans  were  in  so 
far  ahead  of  us  that  they  were  the  first  to  lay  the 
wires  underground  on  a  large  scale. 

With  us  pubhc  opinion   is   still  fighting  a  con- 
tinuous battle  against  the  pretensions  of  private  rail- 
way company  monopolists.     The  price  paid  to  the 
landowners  for  the  privilege  of  running  the  lines  over 
their  property  has  saddled  the  public  with  the  most 
expensive  railway  system  in  Europe.     The  cost  of 
forcing  the  concessions  through  Parliament  have  in 
course"  of  time  cost  the  companies  millions.     Thus 
we  are  not  surprised  to  read  that,  although  the  five 
largest   railway  companies  in   England  are  virtual 
gold  mines  to  the  lucky  shareholders,  of  2  5  8  rail- 
ways in  England  and  Wales,  i  37.  ^i'  i^^o^^  ^^^^^  ^^^■ 
half  of   the  whole,  paid  no   dividends  whatever  in 
1884.     Yet  the  Times  plaintively  exclaims:  "Our 
commerce  is  being  throttled  by  the  enormous  cost  of 
internal  carriage ;  goods  often  cost  more  for  a  short 
transit  to  the  coast  than  they  subsequently  do  for 
sea-carriage  to  the  ends  of  the  earth." 

Not  only  are  our  railways  more  expensive  than 
the  German  lines,  but,  except  where  competition 
forces  a  keen  rivalry,  they  cannot  compare  for  clean- 
liness, comfort,  or  punctuality.  The  dirt  and  un- 
punctuality  on  some  of  our  Southern  lines  would  be 
sought  for  in  vain  all  over  Germany,  and  the  power 
of  the  Press  has  hitherto  i^roved  unavailing  to  secure 
a  remedy  for  these  things. 


One  of  the  greatest  tasks  of  paternal  government 
has  been  "  die  Verstaatlichung  der  Eisenbahnen," 
the  taking  over  of  the  railways  by  the  State.  It 
is  still  incomplete,*  but  almost  all  lines  in  Prussia 
proper  are  now  State  property.  Hence  there  is 
now  one  system  and  one  tariff  where  formerly 
close  upon  a  thousand  existed.  How  this  one 
system  works  we  hear  from  the  best  of  English 
authorities,  "  Bradshaw's  Guide,"  which  states  that 
the  German  railways  are  uniformly  excellent.  That 
the  carriages  of  each  class  are  better  tlian  those  in 
our  country  has  long  been  admitted  ;  and  lately  the 
American  saloon-carriages  are  being  widely  intro- 
duced, not  for  one  class  only,  as  with  us,  but  for  all 
classes  alike. 

It  would  lead  us  too  far  to  enter  into  every  point 
of  the  German  railway  system ;  we  will  only  men- 
tion that  the  minutest  details  for  the  comfort  of  the 
public  are  not  beneath  the  direct  notice  of  the 
Minister  of  Public  Works,  Dr.  v.  Maybach,  who  is 
the  supreme  head  of  the  Prussian  railway  system. 
Whereas  one  of  our  latest  postal  reforms  consists  in 
being  allowed  to  post  a  letter  in  a  postal  train  with 
an  extra  stamp,  in  Crermany  not  only  has  it  long 
been  permissible  to  do  so  without  any  extra  stamp, 
but  all  trains  carrying  the  mails  accept  telegrams 
also  without  extra  charge. 

The  railway  refreshment  bars — with  us  one  of  the 
crying   scandals   of    our   railway  system,  where  the 


*  In  Bavaria  the  railways  are  still  noted  for  their  irregularity 
and  inefficiency. 


112 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


favoured  contractor  is  allowed  to  poison  the  public 
without  let  or  hindrance— are  regulated  in  Trussia 
with  the  utmost  care  and  conscientiousness.  Not 
only  is  every  article  which  is  sold  tested,  but  the 
price  charged  is  regulated  by  the  authorities.  Besides 
that,  in  every  railway  refreshment  bar  all  through 
the  country  (and  most  stations  have  one)  a  book  is 
kept  to  enter  any  complaints  made. 

Only  a  short  time  ago  a  Liberal  member  of  the 
Eeichstag   accused  Dr.  v.  Maybach  of   having  dis- 
posed of ''a  railway  refreshment  licence  by  favour  to 
an  unquaUfied  person!      Dr.   v.    Maybach   proved 
that  under  his  rule   it  was  simply  impossible   that 
even  the  contract  for  a  little  refreshment  room  at  a 
side  station  could  be  given  away  through   influence 
of  any  kind.     With  us   there  are   no  refreshment 
bars  unless  the  traffic  is  large  enough  to   ensure  ^  a 
rattling  profit  to  the  lessee,  and  then  they  are  a  dis- 
grace to  our  railway  system.     But  the  end  and  ahii  of 
all  our  railway  companies  is  to  secure  big  dividends. 
Not  only  roads  by  land,  but  navigable  rivers  and 
canals,   show   signs   of  the   unceasing   care   of  the 
Government.     The  former  are  uniformly  kept  m  an 
excellent  state  of   repair,  and,  in   reference  to   the 
latter,  the  fact  of  the  Government  piercing  a  canal 
from  Kiel  to  Wilhelmshafen,   at    an    expense    of 
^^7,800,000    speaks    volumes    for    its    initiative* 
This  canal,  when  completed,  will  shorten  the  steam 


*  Prussia  contributes  ;^2,5oo,oooonher  own  account,  and  the 
Empire  generally  the  remainder,  penurious  Prussia  thus  paying 
twice  over. 


PATERNAL  GOVERNMENT, 


113 


voyage  from  Hamburg  to  Cronstadt  by  forty-four 
hours,  from  London  by  twenty-two,  and  from  Hull 
by  fifteen.  It  will  infuse  new  life  into  the  Baltic, 
and  may  do  much  to  revive  the  prosperity  of  ancient 
cities  like  Dantzic  on  the  Prussian  coast,  besides 
increasing  the  effectiveness  of  the  German  fleet. 

Even  the  cultivation  of  fish  is  not  beneath  the 
attention  of  the  Government,  and  a  State  fish-breed- 
ing establishment  at  Huningen  in  Alsace  is  the 
nucleus  from  which  the  pisciculture  of  the  country 
receives  fresh  impulse  and  development. 


X. 

The  Protectionist  policy  pursued  with  regard  to 
native  industries  has  yet  to  justify  itself  by  results;  in 
the  meantime  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  tempo- 
rary impulse  it  has  given  to  trade.  The  Germans, 
like  the  Americans,  sought  in  Protection  a  means,  if 
only  temporary,  of  building  up  their  industries.  To 
oppose  this  would  seem  to  many  like  refusing  brandy 
to  a  sick  person  because  you  are  a  teetotaller. 
Whether  it  will  in  every  respect,  and  in  the  long 
run,  yield  all  the  results  anticipated  from  it  remains 
to  be  seen.  Also  a  new  dramatic  copyright  treaty 
with  England  has  secured  protection  for  German 
authors  which  they  have  long  lacked. 

Bismarck  has  said  that  the  fear  of  responsibility 
is  one  of  the  diseases  of  our  time.  This  fear  he 
certainly  did  not  feel  when  he  shared  the  responsi- 
bility with  his  Sovereign  of  introducing,  one  by 
one,  the  recent  laws  for  the  benefit  of  the  working 


114 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


PATERNAL  GOVERNMENT, 


"5 


classes.  He  knew  that  the  vested  interests  of  the 
country,  the  Landowners,  and  the  well-to-do  middle 
classes  would  never  take  the  initiative,  so  he  deter- 
mined to  do  so  hhnself .  To  many  it  is  a  dangerous 
doctrine  to  admit  that  social  questions  of  the  cha- 
racter in  question  can  be  solved  by  the  State,  and 
the  attempt  to  do  so  will  have  to  be  judged  by  its 
results  HI  the  future.  Still,  it  is  a  bold  attempt,  made 
in  a  noble  spirit. 

That  the  State  cannot  exercise  the  power  it  does 
in  Germany  without  bringing  disadvantages  in  its 
train  is  natural.    Nor  is  it  our  aim  to  judge  finally  in 
how  far  the  advantages  outweigh  the  disadvantages ; 
that  can  only  be  shown  by  time  alone.      We  only 
wish  to  show  that  honest  paternal  government  has 
done  a  deal  of  really  good  work  such  as  even  a  parlia- 
mentary majority  might  be  proud  of  having  accom- 
plished.    Who,  1 20  years  ago,  seeing  Frederick  the 
Great   return   in   triumph   to   his    half-ruined    and 
starving  Berlin  population   after  the   Seven  Years' 
War,  would  have  ventured  to  prophesy  the  future 
greatness  of  Prussia,  which,  after  all,  owes  so  much 
Ldirectly    to  those  years  of  struggle  and  popular 

misery ! 

So  also  to-day  there  is  something  anomalous  m 
seeing  the  state  of  siege  proclaimed  in  the  capital  and 
other"^ large  towns;  to  know  that  the  laws  which 
govern  the  expression  of  political  opinion  are  almost 
as  severe  as  under  a  reactionary  despotic  govern- 
ment ;  to  know  that  Social  Democracy  is  feared,  and 
subterraneously  spreading  and  powerful.  It  is  but 
permitted  to  hope  and  believe  that  the  disadvantages 


may  be  temporary,  whilst  the  advantages  may  be 
permanent.  If  these  facts  be  realized,  the  Germans 
can  justly  retort  on  the  Manchester  system.  Has 
it  prevented  the  land  drifting,  year  by  year,  into 
fewer  hands  ?  Has  it  not  assisted  to  exterminate  the 
small  holders  ?  The  innocent  suffer  with  the  guilty. 
Has  it  arrested  the  terrible  depression  of  forty 
millions  sterling  in  the  annual  value  of  English 
land  ? 

To  many  it  seems  as  if  despotic  laws  were  now 
and  then  as  necessary  in  an  over-civilized  country 
as  in  a  primitive  one.  It  is  as  absurd  to  say  that 
force  is  no  remedy  as  that  unlimited  liberty  must 
necessarily  be  an  unalloyed  boon.  The  opinion  of 
the  majority  is,  after  all,  the  expression  of  force — 
the  tyranny  of  the  many. 


I  2 


(     ii6    ) 


BISMARCK. 


117 


I 


I!!!! 


CHAPTEE    YL 


BISMAKCK. 


A  o-reat  nation  is  a  nation  that  produces  great  men 


, — L0B1> 


Beacoxsfield. 


I. 


About  a  hundred  years  ago  there  lived  a  German 
author  who  wrote:  "Oh,  that  we  only  possessed 
national  pride  and  unity,  and  we  should  have  been 
one  nation,  the  first,  the  most  powerful,  in  Europe. 
One  nation !  For  that  alone  I  wish  I  could  come 
back  again  in  a  hundred  years,  to  see  my  country- 
men as  a  nation,  or  to  hear  of  a  German  William 

Pitt."  * 

If  poor  old  Weber  could  come  to  life  again,  he 
would  see  much  to  rejoice  over  in  his  fatherland ; 
nmch  that  his  honest  old  patriot's  heart  never  dared 
to  hope  for ;  but,  above  all,  he  would  see  Otto  v. 
P>ismarck-Schonhausen  Prince  Bismarck,  the  Iron 
Chancellor  1 

Those  who  only  admire  this  great  man  because 
the  fates  always  turned  the  critical  quarters-of-an 
hour  of  history  in  his  favour  do  not  understand  or 


*  "  Democritos." 


can  hardly  appreciate  him.  For  in  P>ismarck's 
character,  boldness,  perspicacity,  and  dogged  deter- 
mhiation  are  allied  to  astute  caution  in  a  degree 
hardly  equalled  in  history.  These  in  their  union 
give  rise  to  a  moderation  in  success  equally  phe- 
nomenal. 

For  years  we  follow  him,  from  his  modest  ancestral 
home  to  his  entry  into  politics :  everywhere  the 
rough  and  sturdy  Prussian  squire,  ready  to  break 
an  opponent's  head  or  to  save  a  man  from  drovm- 
ing ;  everywhere  strong,  demonstratively  aggressive 
in  his  unbridled  animal  spirits.  Here  and  there 
short  glimpses  of  family  affection  relieve  the  picture 
of  its  harshness.  A  descendant  of  a  hardy  Northern 
soldier-family,  he  seems  born  out  of  his  time ;  a 
paladin  longing  for  the  jousts  of  tournament,  or  for 
foray,  or  adventure  by  field  or  fiood. 

He  steps  into  a  position  of  responsibility,  and 
■gradually,  very  gradually,  the  strong  wine  passes 
throuirh  fermentation,  and  the  old  nature  is  as  if 
clarified  into  a  new  character.  "May  it  please 
God,"  he  wrote  to  his  wife  (July  3,  i  851),  "to  fill 
this  vessel  with  strong  and  clear  wine,  now  that  the 
champagne  of  youth  has  effervesced  uselessly  and 
left  stale  dregs  behind."  Those  who  had  only  known 
Bismarck  during  the  years  of  Shiron-und-Drcmg  hardly 
recognized  the  man  later  on  at  the  head  of  afiairs. 

Called  to  the  Frankfort  Diet  in  185  i,  as  the  re- 
presentative of  Prussia — humiliated,  if  not  humbled, 
at  Olmiitz — he  was  a  square  peg  in  a  round  hole 
for  the  condition  of  things  as  they  then  were. 

In  a  letter   to   the   Prime   Minister   of   Prussia 


ii8 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


dated  July  5,  1^51,  Bismarck's  predecessor  m 
Frankfort,  Herr  von  Eocliow,  tells  the  following 
respecting  Bismarck's  appointment  as  liis  successor, 
and  the  comments  of  the  then  Prince  of  Prussia  on 
his  visit  to  Frankfort:—"  The  latter  said,  '  And  this 
lieutenant  of  the  Landwehr  is  to  be  our  Ambassador 
at  the  Diet  ? '  '  Yes,'  I  replied,  '  and  I  believe  he 
is  well  chosen ;  Herr  von  Bismarck  is  spontaneous, 
energetic,  and  I  believe  he  will  come  up  to  every 
expectation  of  your  Eoyal  Highness.' 

"  The  Prince  had  nothing  to  say  in  return,  but 
in  general  he  was  favourably  impressed  with  this 
excellent  champion  of  right  and  true  Prussian  senti- 
ments. I  fancy  his  Eoyal  Highness  would  have 
wished  Herr  von  Bismarck  might  have  been  a  little 
older,  with  grey  hairs,  but  whether  with  these 
attributes  it  would  be  exactly  possible  to  meet  the 
expectations  of  his  Eoyal  Highness  I  hardly  dare  to 

say." 

As  yet  he  is  but  feeling  his  way— the  possi- 
bilities of  Prussia  as  a  governing  influence  had  not 
revealed  themselves  to  him.  The  aristocratic  lean- 
ings of  Austria  were  indeed  sympathetic  to  his 
Junker*  nature,  even  though  this  same  Austria 
lorded  it  over  his  own  country. 

At  first  we  only  see  the  militant  nature — the 
fighting  man,  ready  to  resent  hostility  by  retort  or 
bfow  from  whatever  point  of  the  compass  it  coineth. 
The  hauteur  of  the  Austrian  Ambassador,  Count 
Thun,  the  President  of  the  Diet,  receives  its  quietus 


♦  Term  for  Prussian  squire. 


BISMARCK. 


119 


incidentally,*  whilst  our  hero  is  feeling  his  way  and 
learning  still  to  appraise  facts  fully. 

Gradually  he  awakens  to  the  emptiness  that  under- 
lies the  Austrian  pretensions.  The  man  who  since 
has  hardly  ever  looked  at  an  opponent  without  read- 
ing him  through  and  through  was  not  long  in  form- 
ing his  opinion  of  the  Austrian  representative.  To 
those  who  WTote  to  him  warning  him  of  the  political 
astuteness  of  his  opponent,  he  replies,  "  Kinder,  das 
ist  ja  ein  ganz  duminer  Kerl !  "t 

But  he  had  yet  to  clarify  and  formulate  his  ideas, 
and  to  gain  that  statesman-like  view  of  affairs  which 
enabled  him  to  subordinate  everything  to  his  pur- 
pose. He  saw  himself  recognized  only  as  the  re- 
presentative of  a  second-rate  Power,  and  his  strong 
nature  rebelled  at  the  position ;  but  he  bore  the  un- 
popularity of  Prussia  with  a  light  heart,  and  even 
seemed  to  take  pleasure  in  the  feelings  that  he 
evoked. 

A  Count  Isenburg,  irate  at  some  remark  of 
Bismarck's,  was  said  to  be  coming  to  Frankfort  to 
thrash  him!  But  those  who  knew  Bismarck 
chuckled  at  the  idea.  He  himself,  hearing  of  Isen- 
buro's  murderous  intentions,  writes,  "  I  cannot  make 
out  what  I  have  done  to  the  good  man  ;  I  always 
took  him  for  a  harmless  person."  J     It  need  hardly 


*  This  refers  to  the  well-known  anecdote  of  Bismarck  quietly 
taking;  awav  the  breath  of  the  Austrian  Ambassador  by  asking 
him  for  a  light  for  his  cigar  at  a  time  when  none  of  the  German 
representatives  dared  smoke  before  the  President  of  the  Diet. 

I  My  good  folks,  why  he  is  a  thoroughly  stupid  fellow ! 

i  "Preussen  im  Bundestag,"  p.  159.     Leipzig.     1885. 


120 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


BISMARCK, 


121 


be  said  the  irascible  Count  thought  the  matter 
twice  over. 

The  gossip  of  the  period  teems  with  illustra- 
tions of  his  bold  action  and  boisterous  language,  the 
tenor  of  which  openly  revealed  his  political  views 
and  plans.  Many  of  his  franl-:  blunt  opinions  on 
high  personages  in  those  days  are  deeply  instructive 
even  now  as  showing  with  how  little  wisdom  the 
world  is  ruled.  For  they  have  invariably  proved 
to  be  incisive  and  true.  During  these  years  of 
petty  bickering  and  enforced  idleness  the  idea  took 
possession  of  him  that  Austria  must  be  turned  out 
of  Germany,  and  lienceforth  he  became  her  deatli 
enemy. 

The  Italian  war  of  1859  broke  out  and  wit- 
nessed Austria's  defeat.  Public  opinion  in  Germany 
strongly  expressed  itself  in  a  wish  to  keep  Austria  ; 
but  Bismarck,  even  before  the  war  had  begun,  was 
already  half  inclined  to  take  the  opportunity  to  join 
hands  with  France  in  humbling  her.  As  this  wish, 
openly  expressed,  was  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
views  held  in  responsible  quarters  in  Berlin,  Bis- 
marck was  no  longer  the  right  person  to  represent 
the  latter  in  Frankfort,  and  was  transferred  to  Peters- 
burg as  Prussian  Ambassador,  where  he  arrived  in 
March  1859. 

There  the  reputation  of  his  opposition  to,  and  even 
hatred  of,  Austria  had  preceded  him,  and  made  him 
highly  popular  in  Ptussian  Court  circles,  still  smarting 
under  the  sense  of  tlie  equivocal  conduct  of  Austria 
during  the  Crimean  War. 

In  the  meantime  the  Italian  campaign  had  shown 


the  hopeless  divisions  of  the  German  federal  States 
in  a  stronger  light  than  ever.  The  victory  of  France 
over  Austria  was  the  consequence  of  this  helpless- 
ness, and  caused  a  popular  clamour  for  union  anew 
to  break  out  in  Germany,  particularly  in  the  Liberal 
party. 

On  September  15,  1859,  ^^'^  "National  Union" 
was  formed  in  Frankfort-on-the-]\Iaiu,  which  included 
in  its  programme  the  representation  of  the  German 
people,  and  asked  the  central  power  in  Germany  to 
be  conferred  on  l*russia. 

But  time  sped  on,  whilst  King  "William  saw  that 
the  sword  would  need  to  be  sharpened  before  any- 
thing could  come  of  this.  It  was  imperative  to 
strengthen  the  army.  Parliament  refused  to  lend 
itself  to  a  prolongation  of  the  period  of  military 
service,  as  also  to  the  granting  of  the  increased 
military  budget ;  at  least,  unless  the  Government 
would  declare  that  it  was  prepared  to  use  the  in- 
creased armaments  to  secure  national  unity.  In  view 
of  the  jealousy  of  Austria  and  France,  that  concession 
was  impossible.  The  King  saw  that  a  Foreign 
Minister  who  would  have  to  unfold  all  his  plans  to 
a  critical,  inquisitive  representative  assembly  must 
needs  give  up,  or  at  least  must  delay,  their  fulfilment. 
The  King,  at  the  risk  of  losing  his  crown,  determined 
to  carry  out  his  plans  for  the  re-organization  of  the 
army  against  the  opposition  of  the  majority  in 
Parliament,  and  to  obtain  the  necessary  funds  and 
spend  them  without  its  consent.  Thus  arose  a  con- 
flict between  Crown  and  Parliament.  In  carrying 
out  this  determination  to    face   the   opposition    of 


li 


122 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


the  majority  of  his  subjects,  the  King  looked  round 
for  a  Ministry  to  stand  by  him.  One  by  one  they 
fell  in  this  bloodless  battle  aorainst  numbers. 

King  William  stood  alone.  In  this  dilemma, 
Herr  von  Schleinitz  advised  the  King  to  send  for 
Herr  von  Bismarck,  who  had  already  gained  the 
feputation  of  a  bold  and  determined  politician.  Thus 
originated  Bismarck's  relationship  to  his  Sovereign 
which  lasted  unbroken  from  1862   till  the  death  of 


the  King. 


II. 


The  years  of  struggle  with  Parliament  from 
1862  to  '66  are  matters  of  history,  and  they  tell  us 
that  Bismarck  showed  the  same  courage  and  per- 
tinacity as  his  royal  master. 

History  tells  us  with  what  dexterity  during  this 
period  he  hoodwinked  his  opponents,  charming 
them,  as  it  were,  into  a  false  sleep  of  security  only 
to  wake  up  and  find  the  irrecoverable  moment  of 
action  past !  We  learn  how,  during  his  short  stay 
in  Paris  in  '62,  he  confided  his  plans  to  the 
Emperor.  "  He  is  mad,"  the  latter  said ;  and  the 
Empress  thought  him  a  funny  fellow.  The  French 
Ministers  with  one  accord  agreed  that  he  was  not 
by  any  means  im  hommc  serieux  !  a  man  to  be 
taken  seriously  into  account. 

The  preliminary  fight  for  the  standard  took  place 
in  1864,  when  Austria  was  inveigled  into  sharing 
the  Prussian  campaign  against  Denmark,  which 
ended  in  the  cession  to  Germany  of  Schleswig- 
Holstein. 


BISMARCK. 


123 


It  is  again  a  matter  of  history  how  Bismarck  and 
the  King,  still  acting  in  opposition  to  the  parlia- 
mentary majority  of  the  country,  twisted  the  division 
of  the  spoil  into  a  rope  that  coiled  itself  round 
the  throat  of  Austria  on  the  field  of  Sadowa  in 
I  866.  We  find  Bismarck  starting  for  Bohemia,  on 
the  outbreak  of  this  war,  the  object  of  universal 
hatred,  if  not  of  execration.  He  has  told  us  himself 
that  had  Prussia  lost  he  would  liave  unfailingly 
committed  suicide. 

So  far  we  only  see  the  bold  political  gambler 
playing  for  a  great  stake.  Tlie  victory  won,  he  is 
suddenly  revealed  in  a  new  character  ;  for  he  who 
had  been  mainly  instrumental  in  bringing  this  war 
about,  in  the  moment  of  victory  turns  round  and 
boldly  opposes  his  royal  master  and  his  military 
advisers  in  their  wish  to  despoil  Austria.  He  him- 
self has  told  us  how,  during  the  negotiations  of 
Kickolsburg,  he  had  to  encounter  such  opposition 
that  his  nervous  system  was  thoroughly  unstrung. 
The  man  of  iron  threw  himself  on  his  bed  and  sobbed 
like  a  child. 

We  have  seen  the  political  leader  in  the  making  ; 
we  will  now  take  a  glance  at  the  man.  First 
and  foremost  among  his  characteristics  we  note 
the  rare  power  of  rising  at  every  crisis  above 
his  narrower  self,  and  making  the  interests  of  his 
country  supreme. 

The  man  who  opposed  the  spoliation  of  Austria 
after  Sadowa  might  well  call  out  with  Lord  Clive, 
"  I  stand  appalled  at  my  own  moderation."  For  it 
was  not  the   fear   of   France,  as  some  erroneously 


124 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


BISMARCK. 


125 


I  HUii 


suppose,  that  dictated  such  wise  moderation,  but 
tliat  prophetic  instinct  of  his — that  instinct  which 
often  leads  genius  to  be  stoned  by  one  generation 
in  order  to  be  adored  by  posterity — that  enabled 
him  to  see  that  a  day  was  near  when  it  would  be 
policy  to  be  friends  with  the  present  foe. 

Austria  has  bitten  the  dust  before — in  fact,  she 
must  almost  have  become  accustomed  to  it  by  force 
of  habit ;  but  the  Austrians  had  never  before  been 
humbled  by  a  foe  who,  within  a  generation  of  laming 
their  arms,  succeeded  in  gaining  their  hearts. 

Yet  such  is  the  present  state  of  things  in  parts  of 
Austria — where  the  hatred  of  Prussia  prior  to  '66 
was  most  intense — that  the  Emperor  William  and 
Prince  Bismarck  compete  in  popularity  with  her 
rei<]rnin2r  House. 

Such  is  the  first  result  of  the  working  out  of 
this  trait  of  sagacious  magnanimity  in  a  great  object 
in  Bismarck.  Although  he  may  not  be  able  to  say 
on  his  death-bed,  with  Itichelieu,  that  he  had  never 
had  any  personal  enemies,  his  only  enemies  having 
been  the  enemies  of  the  State,  he  can  point  to  even 
rarer  characteristics.  The  subordination  of  his  own 
strong  passions  has  often  taken  a  far  higher  form. 
If  we  can  picture  him  as  Sylla,  the  Poman  dictator, 
crushing  his  rivals  ruthlessly,  exterminating  their  ad- 
herents, we  cannot  quite  credit  him  with  that  stoicism 
which  enabled  Sylla  to  bear  in  silence  the  opprobrious 
epithets  of  that  young  patrician  who  followed  the 
ex-dictator,  reviling  him,  through  the  streets  of 
Eome.  But  our  appreciation  must  increase  in  pro- 
portion the   more   we   bear  in   mind  his  passionate 


temper,  when  we  come  to  consider  that  no  single 
instance  is  on  record  of  Bismarck  ever  allowing  his 
strongest  personal  leanings,  antipathies,  or  passions 
to  influence  seriously  his  action  when  the  welfare  of 
the  State  was  in  question. 


III. 

The  war  of  '66  concluded,  Bismarck  returns  to 
Berlin  with  the  King,  and  takes  share  in  the  ova- 
tions of  tlie  people.  He  first  seeks,  side  by  side 
with  his  Sovereign,  the  condonation  of  past  breaches 
of  the  letter  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  Bill  of  In- 
demnity is  passed  with  acclamation  by  a  Parliament 
deliglited  with  national  victory. 

Now  begins  the  new  phase  in  his    activity — the 

work  of  consolidating  what  had  been   gained the 

strengthening  of  the  North  German  Confederation, 
tlie  conciliation  of  the  popular  assembly,  and  the 
smoothing  of  the  way  to  a  better  understanding 
with  the  South. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  period  falls  that  master- 
stroke of  Bismarck  which  was  only  revealed  to  the 
public  and  to  France  like  a  peal  of  thunder  in  1867 
— the  secret  treaty  with  the  South.  The  result  of 
this  would  have  been  that  even  had  the  Prench 
tardily  provoked  war  in  1866,  they  would  have 
found  Prussia  at  the  head  of  all  Germany,  a  fact 
they  were  loth  to  believe  even  in  1870,  notwith- 
standing the  previous  publication  of  the  treaty. 

The  years  from  1866  to  1870,  in  their  creative 
and    consolidating   fertility,  belong  to    history;    it 


126 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


suffices  for  our  purpose  that  they  were  years  of  unre- 
mitting work  and  successful  effort  with  Bismarck. 
Their  cahn  was  only  once  disturbed  by  the  Luxem- 
burg quarrel  in  1867,  which  would  have  led  to  war 
then  had  it  not  been  for  Bismarck's  moderation. 
This,  again,  must  be  regarded  as  a  striking  instance 
of  that  self-control  and  moderation  in  success  so 
conspicuous  in  Bismarck's  character ;  doubly  so, 
when  we  bear  in  mind  that  he  already  regarded 
war  as  inevitable. 

The  leading  facts  of  the  war  of  1870  and  the 
after-results  of  these  unprecedented  campaigns  are 
too  well  known  to  require  that  we  should  dwell  on 
them.  It  suffices  for  our  purpose  to  point  out  that, 
onerous  as  were  the  conditions  imposed  on  the  van- 
quished in  the  eyes  of  the  placid  onlooker,  it  was 
notoriously  the  work  of  Bismarck  that  they  were 
not  far  more  so.  Here,  as  in  1866,  Bismarck  was 
opposed  by  Moltke,  of  whom  a  most  impartial 
French  writer  says,  "  Had  Moltke  had  his  way, 
France  would  have  been  annihilated."  And  let 
there  be  no  mistake  :  there  was  nobody  to  stop  the 
way  ;  Austria  was  powerless,  liussia  passive,  and  the 
offers  of  England's  interference  had  been  coldly  de- 
clined. The  calm,  dispassionate  moderation  of 
Bismarck  in  success,  although,  perhaps,  hardly  per- 
ceptible to  our  eyes,  has  yet  been  recognized  as  one 
of  his  striking  characteristics  even  by  individual 
Frenchmen. 

It  is  beside  our  purpose  to  enter  chronologically 
here  into  the  details  of  his  latter-day  internal  ad- 
ministration ;  we  only  wish  to  summarize. 


BISMARCK. 


127 


The  supreme  position  he  gained  for  himself  and 
helped  to  gain  for  his  country  has,  since  1870, 
been  utilized  in  the  interests  of  peace,  so  that  it  has 
been  well  said  that  never  before  lias  such  immense 
political  power  been  used  with  such  moderation. 
This  is,  perhaps,  the  brightest  jewel  in  Bismarck's 
crown  of  glory,  even  if  in  justice  we  must  admit 
that  he  only  shares  it  with  his  late  Imperial  master. 
This  moral  position  led  to  what  was  perhaps,  in  one 
sense,  the  greatest  triumph  of  his  life,  when,  after 
the  late  Turco-Eussian  War,  Europe  seemed  on  the 
eve  of  a  desperate  struggle,  and  Eussia  and  England 
met  at  Berlin,  and  sought  the  adjustment  of  their 
differences  at  the  hands  of  the  '•  honest  broker." 

Side  by  side  with  the  popular  ovation  that 
greeted  Bismarck  on  the  attainment  of  his  seventieth 
birthday — April  1/85— we  cannot  resist  the  temp- 
tation of  referring  to  the  letter  his  Sovereign  wrote 
to  him  in  September  1884,  on  the  occasion  of  con- 
ferring on  him  the  military  insignia  of  the  order 
'  pour  le  merite.*  For  it  seems  the  due  recognition 
of  services  such  as  rarely  have  been  rendered  to  a 
State  by  a  subject,  and  is  doubtless  unique  in  his- 
tory as  the  tribute  of  a  Sovereign,  who  thus 
honoured  himself  as  much  as  him  whom  he  distin- 
guished : — 

"  Athough  the  significance  of  this  order  is  in- 
tended to  be  essentially  military,  still  you  ought  to 
have  had  it  long  ago.  For,  in  truth,  you  have 
shown  the  highest  courage  of  the  soldier'  in  many 
hard  times,  and  besides,  in  two  wars  you  have  shown 
at  my  side  that,  beside  all   other  distinctions,  you 


pw^S'i-'^ 


128 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


have  the  fullest  claim  to  a  high  military  one.  Thus 
I  make  up  for  omissions  (  Versditmtes)  in  sending  you 
herewith  the  order  '  pour  le  merite/  with  oak  leaves 
added,  if  only  to  express  thereby  that  you  ought  to 
have  had  it  before,  and  that  you  have  deserved  it 
again  and  again.  I  so  fully  appreciate  in  you  the 
heart  and  mind  of  a  soldier  that  I  hope,  in  sending 
you  this  order,  which  many  of  your  ancestors  wore 
witli  pride,  to  give  you  pleasure.  In  doing  so  it 
affords  me  satisfaction  to  feel  that  I  am  thereby 
crrantins:  a  deserved  distinction  as  a  soldier  to  the 
man  wliom  God's  gracious  providence  has  placed  by 
my  side,  and  who  has  done  so  much  for  his  country." 

IV. 

Thus  the  people,  who  were  so  slow  to  recognize 
the  man,  have  come  to  look  upon  everything  that 
lias  occurred,  good  or  bad,  as  directly  foreseen  by  or 
emanating  from  him.  Of  course  this  is  as  far  from 
being  the  case  as  the  estimate  of  public  opinion  is 
ever  far  from  being  the  verdict  of  history.  No 
human  being  foresees  every  turn  of  the  wheel  of 
time  :  in  nine  times  out  of  ten  it  is  the  unforeseen 
that  occurs  even  to  the  ken  of  genius.  But  great 
men  meet  the  unexpected  whilst  mediocrity  is  over- 
taken and  crushed  by  it.  Nor  are  his  great  suc- 
cesses alone  the  most  remarkable  in  the  man.  The 
way  he  lias  repeatedly  turned  an  awkward  occur- 
rence to  his  advantage  supplies  us  with  subject  for 
admiration.  When  German  colonial  annexations 
caused  an  outburst  of  patriotism  in  Spain  to  defend 


BISMARCK.  , 

her  riglits  to  the  Caroline  Islands,  public  opinion 
thought  that  at  last  Bismarck  liad  got  into  trouble 
But  lo !  lie  proposes  the  arbitration  of  the  Pope  and 
by  that  single  move  does  more,  without  loss  of  dig- 
nity, to  conciliate  the  Catholic  world  than  a  series 
of  reactionary  laws  might  have  attained. 

Uniformly  successful   abroad,  lie  has   failed    but 
once— namely,   in   ]iis  struggle   with  a   foe    of   a 
thousand  years,  the  power  of  Rome.     And  yet  even 
here,  although  he  failed  to  conquer,  neither  was  it  a 
defeat ;  concessions  have  been  made  on  both  sides 
Here  he  failed  because  success  was  hardly  possible' 
Yet  just  this  failure  supplies  us  with  a    forcible 
Illustration  of  a  great  trait  in  the  man.    After  bein- 
identified  for  years   with   open   antagonism  to  the 
1  apal  See,  it  must  have  cost  his  pride  no  triflinn- 
pang  to  step  out  lustily  on  the  road  to  Canossa— 
lie,    a  staunch    Protestant— smokin.a  the  pipe   of 
peace  witii  the  placidity  of  an  lionest"  purpose 
_    After  leaning  for  years  for  support  on  the  best 
intellect  of  (iermany,  after  being  hailed  as  the  torch- 
bearer  of  the  modern  spirit  of  enlightenment  against 
the  temporal   pretensions  of  mediaeval   Papacy    it 
cannot  have  been  with  a  light  heart  that  he  threw 
in  his  lot  with  many  elements  of  superstition  and 
class  prejudice.     But  those  elements  meant  support 
against  the  wild  dream  of  anarchic  Socialism,  aaaiust 
the  petty  spirit  of  "  particularismus,"  which  is  not 
dead  even  up  to  tlie  present  day.* 


K 


j 


130 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


If  personal  arabition — a  word  that  reads  so  close 
to  egregious  vanity — had  been  his  motive-power,  is 
it  to  be  supposed  that  a  passionate,  vindictive  nature 
like  Bismarck's  would  have  taken  such  a  step  ? 

History  is  only  too  rich  in  instances  to  show  how 
far  easier  it  is  for  ambitious  natures  to  be  "con- 
sistent "  in  their  self-willed  aims  than  to  turn  back 
in  the  face  of  friend  and  foe,  and  boldly  cry  out, 
*'  Peccavi !  I  was  wrong ;  I  underrated  the  power 
of  the  spirits  I  raised  too  readily.      I  must  retrace 

my  steps." 

Now,  although  Cicero  long  ago  warned  his  com- 
patriots that  no  liberal  man  should  impute  a  charge 
of  unsteadiness  to  another  for  having  changed  his 
opinion,*  that  dreadful  German  pedantic  fad,  "Ueber- 
zeugungstreue  "  (fidelity  to  conviction),  has  laid  hold 
of  Bismarck  on  the  score  of  his  changed  opinions, 
and  reproached  him  with  it.  He  has  been  accused 
of  his  former  leanings  towards  Austria,  of  his  con- 
version to  Protection,  besides  his  change  of  front 
towards  the  Vatican.  Well  did  he  retort  to  such 
charges,  that  he  tliought  he  had  therein  the  advan- 
tage over  those  who  still  remained  where  they  were 
a  generation  ago.  And  this  must  seem  well  founded 
to  all  those  who  do  not  share  the  belief  of  the 
supernatural  prescience  of  statesmen,  but  rather 
see  their  genius  in  the  capacity  of  profiting  by 
experience  and  of  turning  the  unforeseen  to  their 
advantage. 


*  Our  own  statesmen— Lord  Beaconsfield,  Mr.  Gladstone  and 
Lord  Derby— supply  striking  instances  of  changing  convictions. 


}') 


BISMARCK. 

Napoleon  wlio  wrote  to  his  brother  Joseph,  Kin-, 
of  Spam,  "I  know  I  shall  find  tl>e  pillars  of  Hercule^ 
m  Span,,  but  not  the  linnts  of  my  power,"  would 
have  come  down  to  posterity  a  far  greater  man  if 
bitter  ex-penence  had  taught  him  to  recant  in  time 
and  that  the  hmits  of  his  power  were  limited  to 
omewhere  about  the  Mine.  Has  history  dealt 
knidly  with  hnn  because  the  warnings  Providence 
aent  were  lost  on  him  ?  Has  histor^  notlenS 
nm  the  adjective  of  "Great,"  notwithstandi  g  h 

his  reach,   of  rising  above  his  ambitious  self    and 

Herein  is  to  be  found  the  main  difference  between 
«ie  intellectual  power  as  well  as  the  ambition  Ta 
Napoleon  and  that  of  a  Bismarck-namely,  in    he 
difference  of  the  meaning  of  the  latter  word    tse^ 
To  rnany,  Bismarck  is  the   very  archetype   of  an 
ambitious  nature ;  and  so  he  may  be,  only  with  the 
proviso    which    his    enemies    fofgetlnam         tha 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  an  almost  divine  amiiUon 
mat  IS  all  earthly  ambition  compared  to  the  ambt 
lous  hope  most  of  us  confess  to-of  a  more  .lorfous 
future  ?     Bearing  the  latter  ambition  in  mind  Tow 
can  we  ride  roughshod  over  the  deMnition  of  '^^Z 
tion,  and  qualify  it  as  a  questionable  Muality%     To 

certainty  of  unhappiuess  in  this  world  may  seem  as 
worthy  as  the  ambition  that  prompts  us  to  be  anxToits 
for  our  personal  welfare  hereafter 

If  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  noble  ambition  to 

K  2 


132 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


i     ) 


serve  one's  country,  surely  that  quality  in  its  highest 
acceptation  is  to  be  found  in  Bismarck.     And,  as  far 
as  we  can  judge,  we  may  even  qualify  his  desire  to 
serve  his  country  as  one  that  has  its  origin  in  the 
rights  of  man ;  the  right  to  exist  as  an  independent 
country,    free  to  develop  its   institutions  in  peace. 
Tor  the  idea  of  serving  his  country  by  despoiling 
alien  races,  which  has  been  the  excuse  of  so  many 
victorious  conquerors,  has  never  been  one  that  found 
favour  in  his  eyes.      Without,  perhaps,  being  one  of 
those  fanatical  believers  in  the  gospel  of  nationalities 
— for  he  is  far  too  clear-sighted  to  be  a  blind  believer 
in  any  set  doctrine— it  is  well  known  that  he  re- 
gretted the  military  necessity  of  annexing  purely 
French   territory  in    1870.     All  his  previous  con- 
quests have  been  limited  to  territory  to  which  the 
Empire  of  Germany  was  legitimately  entitled  by  ties 
of  race  and  historical  traditions.     We  have  only  to 
gauge  the  extent  of  the  German  military  successes 
by  historical  comparisons  in  order  to  become  con- 
vinced of  the  clear-headed,  sagacious  moderation  of 
the  man  in  the  midst  of  world-striking  success.      It 
is  interesting  to   note    how  Fortune  favours  those 
w4io  have  not  exhausted  her  kindness,  and  how  she 
totally  forsakes  those  who  have  once  abused  her. 
This    is    strikingly    illustrated    by    the    careers    of 
Napoleon  I.  and  Bismarck.     The  peculiarity  of  the 
latter  is  that  he  has  lived  to  prove  that  he  deserved 
the  smiles  Fortune  reserved  for  him. 

It  seems  but  natural  to  turn  to  history  for  com- 
parisons, and  few  characters  offer  so  tempting  a 
subject  for  drawing  parallels  as  that  of  Bismarck. 


'^'^'"^'-^^  *— •— "'^-niii^ 


BISMARCK. 


^33 


For  everything  about  the  man  is  definite  and  power- 
fully outlined,  down  to  the  exact  number  of  his 
hirsutory  adornments,  the  popularly  accepted  three 
hairs,  no  more  nor  less.  And  this  is,  in  its  way, 
symptomatic.  Nothing  is  too  trifling  for  his  indi- 
vidual attention,  and  he  brings  the  same  amount  of 
dogged  determination  to  bear  on  his  ef!brts  to  protect 
the  obscure  German  trader  in  East  Africa  as  if  a 
great  interest  were  at  stake. 

To  our  mind   the   character   in    English    history 
which  personally  offers  most  affinity  to  him  is  that 
of  Lord  Olive.     The  story  of  Olive's  boyhood  is  such 
as  we  could  fancy  Bismarck's.     And  if  the  child  be 
father  to  the  man,  Bismarck,  again,  in  his  schoolboy 
days,   sitting    among   the    branches   of   a  tree   and 
declaiming  the  ''  Iliad  "  to  his  schoolfellows,  reminds 
us  of  Olive.     Bismarck's  youthful   predilection  for 
Ajax  Telamon  among  all  Homeric  heroes  seems  to 
strike  a  common   key  in  the  two  men's  characters 
--the  hardy  fighter,  less  intent  on  playing  a  lead- 
ing part    than  in   giving    play  to   the   unbounded 
anmial  spirits  of  strife  for  its  own  sake,  but  withal 
honest  and    trustworthy,  if  somewhat  rough!     In 
daring  allied  to  cunning,  again,  they  resemble  each 
other,  though  it  was  only  in   their    maturity  that 
they  were  called  upon  to  play  the  Homeric  part  of 
Ulysses.     The   history  of  Olive's    manipulation    of 
Surajah    Dowlah    and    the     doubtful    treaty    with 
Omichund  offers  some    resemblance    to  Bismarck's 
hoodwinking    of  Napoleon  III.  and   his  diplomatic 
agents. 

Olive's  marriage  and  the  close  ties  of  intellectual 


134 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


BISMARCK, 


135 


sympathy  that  bound  hiiii  to  Lady  Clive  during  his 
whole  life  again  present  many  points  of  resemblance 
with  what  we  know  of  Bismarck.  And,  lastly,  the 
judgment  of  popular  opinion,  if  not  analogous  in 
both  cases,  is  at  least  curiously  suggestive. 

The  following  description  of  Bismarck's  personal 
appearance  is  interesting  as  being  from  the  pen  of  a 
Frenchman  : — "The  outward  aspect  alone  of  the  man 
denotes  something  out  of  the  common  ;  the  round 
face  has  something  of  the  bull-dog :  the  broad  bald 
forehead  ;  the  deep-seated  eyes  beneath  thick  brows, 
with  their  impenetrable  depth  of  expression  ;  the 
sardonic  mouth,  badly  hidden  beneath  the  moustache; 
enormous  ears,  as  if  to  catch  every  sound ;  the 
broad  chin  :  everything  gives  the  idea  of  power  and 
brutality.  He  is  colossal.  I  have  seen  him  on 
horseback  in  the  white  uniform  of  the  Maf>debur']f 
Cuirassiers ;  I  seemed  to  see  one  of  the  mythical 
sons  of  Haimon." 

V. 

Bismarck  is  a  staunch  believer  in  the  monarchical 
principle,  and  is  thoroughly  German  in  his  anxiety 
to  guard  the  privileges  of  the  Crown.  In  fact,  his 
cliaracter  as  a  whole,  exceptional  as  it  is,  is  in  many 
respects  distinctly  typical  of  his  country,  even  down 
to  his  bursts  of  irritability.  His  deference  to  the 
Crown  is  the  result  of  honest  conviction,  for  there  is 
not  an  ounce  of  the  courtier  or  self-seeking  oppor- 
tunity hunter  in  his  composition.  The  stubborn 
honesty  of  his  nature  excludes  all  possibility  of  such 
qualities.     With  the  courage  of  one  who  knows  not 


the  meaning  of  fear,  instead  of  blinding  himself  to 
the  demands  of  the  Social  Democrats,  whilst  combat- 
ing them,  he  has  yet  tried  to  gain  for  himself  the 
knowledge  of  what  is  practicable  in  their  demands ; 
and  out  of  it  we  see  tlie  system  of  insurance  against 
sickness,  in  case  of  accident,  and  lastly,  the  project 
of  pensions  in  old  age,  come  one  after  the  other  for 
the  benefit  of  the  working  classes. 

He  has  tried  hard  to  stimulate  the  manufacturing 
classes  of  the  country,  and,  riglitly  or  wrongly,  has 
sought  the  assistance  of  Protection  for  that  purpose. 
His  aim  is  plain— to  make  his  country  independent 
of  foreign  manufacturers,  and  to  force  others  to  accept 
German  products.  His  colonial  policy,  whether  suc- 
cessful or  not  in  the  future,  has  at  least  already  had 
the  one  result  of  giving  an  enormous  moral  impetus 
to  the  trade  of  the  country. 

Whilst  party    government   shows   everywhere  a 
craven  anxiety  to  employ  only  its  own  partisans — 

as  if  rule  were  a  reward  of  the  nature  of  a  bribe 

Bismarck  has  souglit  co-operation  among  every  shade 
of  opinion  down  to  that  of  formerly  ostracized  Ee- 
publicans.  He  himself  has  put  it :  "I  welcome  co- 
operation gratefully  from  every  side,  and  ask  not 
what  party  it  comes  from." 

This,  however,  from  no  mere  accommodation  to 
self-interest.  Every  action  of  his  is  intended  to 
kindle  the  national  spirit,  and  in  this  conciliation  is 
but  a  means  to  an  end.  Thus,  if  he  is  slightly 
responsible  for  a  certain  boisterous  self-assertion  in 
the  academical  youth  of  late,  the  increase  of  students' 
pugnacity,  &c.,  it  must  be  taken  in  this  light.    Also 


^.^  '4 


136 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


I  ; 

li 
"1 


!  i! 


Wx 


11 


his  well-known  refusal  to  receive  a  German  book 
printed  in  Latin  characters,  though  surprising  to  us 
in  its  pettiness,  is  doubtless  part  of  a  well-weighed 
system  of  n^-tional  propaganda. 

As  he  has  never  disdained  to  avail  himself  of  the 
smallest  advantage  in  foreign  politics,  so  also  no 
means  are  too  trifling  to  gain  the  end  in  view 
nearer  home,  for  the  end  justifies  them. 

But  narrow  natures — political  faddists — who  ride 
about  on  the  broomsticks  of  ragged  principles,  would 
fain  judge  him,  and  show  us  their  methods  how  to 
raise  a  people  out  of  the  political  mud  of  the  past. 
His  opponents  have  not  shown  that  they  possess 
the  magnanimity  they  pretend  to  find  lacking  in  him. 
There  has  been  too  much  wounded  vanity  turned  to 
hate. 

Much  of  the  opposition  Bismarck  has  encountered 
in  his  home  policy  may  be  traced  to  the  spirit  of 
jealousy  felt  by  advocates  of  social  reform  because 
they  were  not  allowed  to  carry  out  their  own  mea- 
sures— a  feature  of  parliamentary  government  in 
all  countries.  Many  also  have  been  too  sensitively 
anxious  to  show  that  they  were  not  led  captive  by 
the  glamour  of  military  success,  and  in  some  notable 
instances  this  feeling  has  been  the  result  of  ex- 
cessive vanity.  The  average  Germans  have  acute 
perception,  and  yet  they  have  never  been  appre- 
ciators  of  a  great  man.  A  sort  of  self-consciousness 
makes  them  loth  to  surrender  their  judgment  to 
unqualified  admiration  for  home  genius.  Goethe, 
Schiller,  and  other  great  Germans  knew  something 
of  this ;    and    Bismarck    himself   has    said    some- 


BISMARCK.  J  37 

thing  sarcastically  on  this  subject,  referred  to  else- 
where. 

Thus,  although  long  all-powerful,  he  has  been  the 
subject   of    venomous    hatred  in  his   own  country 
which.  It  must  be  admitted,  he  has  given  back  in  cur- 
rent com.      It  was  but  natural,  in  an  age  that  loves 
to  make  itself  believe  everything  can  be   done  in 
kid-gloves,  Bismarck's  remark  to  Count  Beust  that 
when  once  we  get  our  enemy  in  our  power  it  is  our 
duty  to  crush  him,  sliould  cause  surprise  or  horrify 
some.    (This  animus  does  not  seem  to  nullify  another 
saying  of  his,  that  we  ought  to  be  outwardly  polite 
to  our  enemies  even  to   the  steps  of  the  scaffold  ') 
Ihe  memorable  conflict  between  Bismarck  and  Count 
Arnim  is  a  case  in  point.     He  pursued  the  Count 
even  to  the  jaws  of  death,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  punishment  of  Arnim  was  out  of  all  pro- 
portion  to  whatever   he   may  have  been  guilty  of 
But  we  must  remember    behind  Arnim  stood   the 
violent  hatred  of  an  entire  clique,  whom  Bismarck 
struck  at  in  their  leader.      This  was  well  known  at 
the   time,   for  even   the   Emperor  declared   himself 
powerless   to   save   Arnim  from  the  hatred  of   the 
Chancellor.      There  are  battles  in  political    life   in 
which  the  price  of  defeat   in  some  countries  must 
be  annihilation.      That  Bismarck  is  a  good  hater- 
enough  so  to  delight  the  heart  of  Dr.  Johnson— he 
has  abundantly  proved ;  and  tliat  his  nervous  irrita- 
bihty— his  impatience  of  opposition— has  largely  in- 
creased of  late  years  is  generally  understood.''    That 
he  has  allowed  himself  to  be  carried  away  by  the 
opposition  of  his  enemies,    even   to    impugn    their 


138 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


r  '1' 


.      I 


motives   witliout   sufficient  cause,    notably    in    the 
debate   on  the  tobacco    monopoly,  will    hardly  be 

denied. 

Eor  all  that,  we  do  not  believe  that  a  trifling 
wound  to  his  personal  vanity  alone  could  lead 
Bismarck  to  proceed  to  such  lengths.  There  are 
plenty  of  incidents  known  when  he  rose  superior  to 
it.     Among  them  the  following  : — 

Count  d'Herisson,  an  officer  of  the  French  general 
staff,  tells  us  in  his  book,  "Journal   d'un   Officier 
d'Ordonnance,"  how  he  was   sent    to  Versailles  to 
deliver  to  Prince  Bismarck  the  document  signed  by 
the  French  Government  embodying  the  capitulation 
of  Paris.     On  the  road  thither  he  conceived  the  bold 
idea  of  endeavourino:,  on  his  own  account,  to  obtain 
the  release  from  one  onerous  condition  of  the  capitu- 
lation— namely,  the  surrender  of  the  flags  of  the 
Paris  garrison.     He   therefore  told   Bismarck  that 
he  had  brought  the  document  ready  signed,  but  with 
instructions  only  to  deliver  it  up  if   the  Germans 
would  relinquish  their   claim  to   the  French  flags.  ^ 
At  first  Bismarck  was  very  irritated  and  excited,  but 
gave  in  at  last;    thus   Count   d'Herisson's  rmc  de 
fjucrrc  was  successful.    When  his  book  appeared,  this 
passage  was  met  with  strong  doubts  by  the  public. 
But  it  turned  out  to  be  perfectly  true,  for  Bismarck 
caused  a  letter  to  be  written  to  Count  d'Herisson 
telling  him  that   he   had   read  his  book  with  great 
interest,    and    he    complimented    Count    d'Herisson 
on   the   patriotic   victory  he  had  gained  over  him. 
In  this   as   in  many  other   instances  Bismarck  has 
shown  a  generosity  of  feeling  towards  foreign  foes 


BISMARCK,  139 

that  he  has  rarely  shown  to  opponents  of  his  own 
nationality. 

VI. 

Even  Iiis   deficiencies    are  interesting  and  often 
sympathetic  to  us.     At  a  time  when  many  statesmen 
divide  their  energies  between  the  task  of  rulin-  and 
horse-racing,   the  collecting  of    old  china,  casuistic 
theology,  and  other  pastimes,  it  is  almost  refreshing 
to  find  a  man  wlio  honestly  tells  you  that  he  under- 
stands nothing  of  the  old  masters,  that  he  is  too  old 
to  learn  to  appreciate  "  high  art,"  that  he  does  not 
know  tlie  inside  of  an  opera-house  or  of  a  concert 
hall   and  that  he  prefers  an  Italian  organ-grinder  to 
a  plienomenal  tenor. 

Bismarck's  dislike  of  the  Press  is  well  known 
but  is  not  surprising  when  we  bear  in  mind  how  it 
has  followed  him  all  through  liis  political  career. 
How  often  public  opinion  expressed  through  the  Press 
has  announced  his  approaching  decline,  only  to  see 
iini  rise  through  each  succeeding  crisis  higher  and 
higher  m  influence  and  power.  But  strong  charac- 
ters, such  as  he,  are  not  so  likely  to  be  appreciated 
by  those  of  whom  Spenser  says ; 

Therefore  the  vulgar  did  about  him  flocke, 
And  cluster  thicke  unto  his  Icasings  vaine, 

(Like  foolish  Flies  about  an  Honey  crocke,)' 
In  hope  by  him  great  benefite  to  gaine, 
And  uncontrolled  Freedome  to  obtaine. 

Also  he  has  been  denied  the  dangerous  gift  of 
oratory,  of  which  its  detractors  say,  with  some  reason, 
that  It  has  done  more  harm  than  good  in  the  world! 


140 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


Orators  have  rarely  been  statesmen.  Curiously 
enough,  too,  history  teaches  us  that  most  great  orators 
have  appeared  coeval  with  a  nation's  decay  :  witness 
Demosthenes  and  Cicero.  Also  the  thunderbolts  that 
the  late  M.  Gambetta  hurled  from  his  jaws  only 
served  to  re-echo  the  cry  of  a  defeated  country  1 
Neither  Eichelieu  nor  Cromwell  nor  Washington  were 
orators,  yet  history  does  not  tell  us  that  their  states- 
manship suffered  from  the  lack  of  this  accomplish- 
ment. 

Bismarck's  is  not  a  nature  we  can  imagine  turn- 
ing out  well-oiled  periods  or  emitting  polished 
Ciceronic  shafts.  But  if  his  periods  are  nervously 
jagged  and  lack  rotundity,  they  fly  as  straight  as  a 
dart,  and,  where  they  strike,  they  pierce  the  enemy 
through  and  through,  and  thence  pursue  their  winged 
course  right  across  the  country,  to  be  remembered 
as  sledge-hammer  blows  of  conviction  and  hard- 
striking  reason. 

The  question  of  Bismarck's  reported  dislike  of 
Endand  and  the  English  has  been  too  often  mooted 
not  to  warrant  a  passing  reference.  If  we  may 
draw  our  conclusions  from  many  references  to 
England  in  his  private  correspondence,  and  also  from 
the  fact  of  both  his  sons  receiving  English  baptismal 
names  (Herbert  and  William*),  we  should  say  that, 
next  to  Germany,  there  is  no  country  and  no  people 
Bismarck  originally  felt  so  much  sympathy  with  as 
England  and  tlie  English.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
are  some  who  aver  that  the  continual  upholding  of 


BISMARCK. 

141 

English    doctrines    and    methods    he    has    had    to 
encounter  in    Parliament,   not    to    mention  certain 
occult  English  influences  constantly  brought  up  in 
even  higher  places  to  counteract  liis  plans,  have  had 
their  share  in    souring  him  against   this    country 
That  Bismarck   is  only  too  happy   if  he  comes  in 
contact  with  a  representative   of    England   who  is 
congenial  to  him  is  abundantly  proved  by  his  studied 
attention  and  courtesy  to  Lord  Beacoiisfield*  durin- 
the  Berlin  Congress.  "^ 

In  conclusion,  to  many  it  may  come  as  a  surprise 
when  we  say  that  Bismarck's  nature  is  'm  its  root 
essentidly  religious.     The  categorical  imperative  of 
Kant  is  by  him  translated   into   a   dominatino-  in. 
fluence,  and  in  the   light  of  his  own  private  "con- 
fession we  must  regard  him  as  drawing  his  stren-th 
and  foresight  from  the  constant  sense  of  dependence 
on  a  higher  Will  which  has  called  him  to  his  place 
at  the  head  of  the   German   people.      For  instance 
we  find  this  frank   and  almost   brusque  statesman 
thus  writing  in  tlie  autumn  of  1872,  while  the  vie- 
tories  of  the  war  were  vet  fresh : 

"  If  I  were  not  a  Christian,  I  would  not  serve  my 
Kmg  another  hour.      If  I  did  not  obey  my  God  and 
put  my  trust  in  Him,  my  respect  for  earthly  rulers 
would  be  but  small.      I  have  enough  to  live  upon 
and,  as  a  private  man,  I  should  enjoy  as  much  con- 


*  For  he  is  called  Bill  in  the  family  circle. 


T  }\^''^'  interesting  to  English  readers  to  remember  that 
Lord  Beaconsfield~at  all  times  a  great  judge  of  character-was 
one  of  the  few  who  were  impressed  with  Bismarck's  frank  state- 
ment of  his  ambitious  aims  in  1862,  and  anticipated  their  fulfil- 
ment. 


142 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


sideration  as  I  desire.     Why,  then,  should  I  exhaust 
myself  with  unwearying  labour   in  this  world,  why 
expose  myself  to  difficulties,  unpleasantness,  and  ill- 
treatment,  if  I  had  not  the  feeling  that  I  must  do 
my  duty  before  God  and  for   His  sake  ?     If  I  did 
not  believe  in  a  Divine  Government  of  the  world 
which  had  predestined  the  German  nation  to  some- 
thing great  and  good,  I  would  abandon  the  trade  of 
diplomacy  at  once,  or,  rather,  I  should  never  have 
undertaken  it.     I  do  not  know  whence  my  sense  of 
duty  should  come   except   from   God.       Titles  and 
decorations  have  no  charm  for  me.      The  confident 
belief  in  life  after  death— that  is  it— that  is  why  I 
am  a  Eoyalist ;  without  it,  I  should  by  nature  be  a 
Eepublican.     All   the    steadfastness  with   which   I 
have  for  ten   years   resisted  every  conceivable  ab- 
surdity has   been   derived   only  from   my   resolute 
faith.     Take  this  faith  from  me,  and  you  take  my 

country  too How  willingly  would  1  leave  it 

all !  I  am  fond  of  country  life,  of  the  fields  and 
the  woods.  Take  away  from  me  my  belief  in  my 
personal  relation  to  God,  and  I  am  the  man  to  pack 
up  my  things  to-morrow,  to  escape  to  Varzin,  and 
look  after  my  crops  1 " 

To  us  these  words  bear  the  impress  of  deep  sin- 
cerity. They  are  clear  water  welling  down  the  old 
crrey  rock,  fresh,  sweet,  pure,  and  beautiful,  round 
whose  course  as  it  flows  fragrant  flowers  may  grow, 
making  the  hard,  harsh  outline  soft  and  radiant. 


(    143    ) 


CHAPTEE    VIL 
THE  ARMY. 

Nullos  mortalium  armis  aut  fide  ante  Germanos  esse—TAciTus. 

I. 

Victory  has  given  the  German  army  a  unique  posi- 
tion  m  the  eyes  of  the  world.  Tliere  is  no  deny- 
nig  that  its  composition  and  cliaracteristics  excite 
an  mterest  the  extent  of  which  can  only  be  com- 
pared  to  its  achievements. 

If  a  great  standing  army  be  a  grim,  unavoidable 
evil,  at   least  it  can  be  said  of  the   German  army 
that  Its  end  justifies  the  means  that  called  it  into 
existence.       It  is  an  army  of  peace.     It  is  a  nation 
m  arms  to  secure  peace  !     Its  moral  standimr  is  by 
far  the  highest  of  any  army  the  world  has  yet  seen. 
Armies,  too  patent  sources  of  immorality  and  rowdy- 
ism in  all  otlier  times  and  countries,  this  one  is  a 
decided  agent  of  discipline  and  morality.     TJie  habits 
of  punctuality,  of  obedience,  of  discipline,  the  inculca- 
tion of  the  instincts  of  honour  in  the  humblest,  the 
meeting  of  all  classes  in  the  nation  on  one  common 
ground  of  feeling  and  duty,  have  physically   and 
morally    strengthened    tlie    whole    German  people 


144 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


THE  ARMY, 


M5 


This  fact  is  visible  to  the  naked  eye  of  any  obser- 
vant traveller  who  crosses  the  German  frontier  at 
different  points,  and  compares  the  populations  of  the 
different  countries. 

We,  who  are  proverbially  slow  to  recognize  or  to 
acknowledge  foreign  prowess — and  not  without  some 
excuse,  for  we  have  plenty  of  our  own  to  look  back 
^xpon — we  even  have  come  to  look  upon  the  German 
army  as  something  to  be  admired.  "  The  sternest 
man-slaying  system  since  the  days  of  Sparta,"  one 
of  our  most  able  periodicals  termed  it. 

Even    a  Frenchman  could  not  help  saying  that 
although  the  German  soldiers  would  not,  "  of  course," 
compare  with  the  French,  still  there  was  no  denying 
the  merit  of  the  German  officers  !     "  I   have   seen 
them  driving  their  men  forward  a  coup   (V^pdc,"  he 
said.  But  not  alone  Frenchmen  ;   it  has  often  struck 
Englishmen  that  the  victories  of  the  Germans  have 
failed  to  impress  many  others  with  the  idea  of  their 
individual  prowess.  When  we  say  individual  prowess, 
we  mean  that  glamour  of  individual  valour  and  dash 
in  the  rank  and  file  that  has  ever  had  a  touch  of 
romance  to  the  eyes  of  the  crowd.     For  who  cannot 
remember  the   halo   that   surrounded    our  men  on 
their    return   from    the    Crimea,    and    the    French 
Zouaves  after  the  storming  of  the  Malakoft*,  &c.  &c. ! 
If  failure  to  impress  in  this  way  be  a  fact,  and  one 
that  was  based  on  accurate  observation,  then  indeed 
the  qualities  of  supreme  animal  courage  are  not  an- 
swerable for  the  superiority  of  the  Germans  in  the 
field;  qualities,  that  John  Bright  tells  us,  can  be  bought 
to  any  extent  in  the  world's  market  at  ;^2  a  week  ! 


I 


It  IS  well  to  dwell  ou  this  fact,  and  to  endeavour 
to  draw  from  it  the  only  legitimate  inferences  that 
present  themselves— namely,  that  Germany  owed 
her  success  in  the  field  to  far  higher  qualities  than 
those  which  of  old  weiglied  down  the  scales  in  the 
victors  favour. 

Bismarck  boasted,  in  his  speech  of  February  6,  '88 
that  the  Germans  fear  nobody  but  God.    If  we  mi^hi 
be  pardoned  differing  from  him  in   this  particular 
instance,  we  would  venture  to  say  that  the  average 
German  fears  even  a  current  of  fresh  air,  which  he 
calls  a  draught,  more  than  anybody  else  in  Europe. 
Unlike  the  French,  who  are  intoxicated  by  martial 
g  ory.  If  he  does  not  fear  fighting,  at  least  it  has  no 
charms  for  him ;  he  dislikes  it.     I5ut  the  strength  of 
the  Germans  lies  in  the  fact  that  at  the  call  of  duty 
tiiey  overcome  their  fears,  and  stand— a  nation  in 
arms-ready  to  meet  those  who  have  put  them  to 
tlie  trouble  of  doing  so. 

The  German  arm'y  is  not  meant  to  produce  pug- 
nacious hei^es  ;  it  has  a  higher  aim.  for  it  succeeds 
m  even  traming  the  coward  to  overcome  histimiditv 
and  to  do  his  duty.  "^ 

II. 

With  the  vast  improvements  in  our  time  in  fire- 
arms generally,  other  instincts  than  of  old  must  be 
caUed  upon  to  face  the  shock  of  battle;  not  per- 
haps, opposite  instincts,  but  certainly  qualities  of  a 
iiigher  order  than  hitherto  required.  The  soldiers 
who  of  old  would  show  the  wild  beast  roused  within 
them  in  the  heat  and  excitement  of  a  hard-fouc^ht 


146 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


hand-to-hand  grapple  might  not  be  equally  ready 
to  stand  at  ease  quietly  for  hours  while   the  piti- 
less "  ping  "  of  bullets — tired  at  a  range  of  1 000 
yards— desalt  death  and  devastation  in  their  sullen 
lines.     Troops  in  days  gone  by  were  seldom  called 
upon  to  make  forced  marches  to  the  degree  that  is 
often    called    for   in    the   present   day;    nor   were 
human  beings  ever  expected  to  lie  down  and   sleep 
on  the   bare   fields    for   weeks  together,   and  that 
mostly  in  the  pouring  rain,  as  was  the  case  in  '70 
from   Weissenburg  to  Gravelotte  and  then   on   to 
Sedan.     Animal    courage   alone,  however   liigh,  can 
never  hope  to  meet  such  requirements    as   are  now 
asked  of  the  rank  and  file  of  a  great  European  army 
in  the  field.     That  readiness  in  get  ting,  killed  is  not 
the  only  quahty  required  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
thirty-six  German  cavalry  regiments  did  not  lose  a 
single  man  during  the  whole  campaign  of  '70  !     The 
Sixth- Army  Corps  hardly  was  under  lire  at  all. 

We,  who  have  not  known  a  war  in  modern  days 
with  an  equally  armed  foe,  have  never  been  called 
upon  to  realize  facts  bearing  upon  one,  and  yet  they 
are  most  important  if  we  wish  to  consider  the  suc- 
cess of  the  German  arms  with  a  view  to  learn  some- 
thing from  it. 

Besides  perfect  organization,  it  was  the  lofty  spirit 
—the  stern  sense  of  duty— which  alone,  under 
leaders  of  consummate  genius,  made  those  victories 
possible!  And  these  leaders,  in  their  turn,  were 
nothing  else  but  the  outcome  and  result  of  that 
supreme  sense  of  conscientiousness  and  duty  which 
is  the  one  key-note  of  the  whole  organization   of 


^ 


THE  ARMY, 


147 


Prussia,  civil  and  military.  This  trait  is  striking 
from  highest  to  humblest — from  the  King,  who 
reported  himself  ready  for  duty,  down  to  the 
humblest  I'omeranian  peasant  who,  at  the  trumpet 
call  of  war,  quietly  reported  himself  at  the  nearest 
place  of  enrolment  and  exchanged  the  hoe  for  the 
musket. 

If  Danton  truly  characterized  "  audacity,"  again 
and  again  "audacity,"   as   the   watch wwd   of  suc- 
cessful   revolution,    we    might    with    equal  justice 
define  "  duty,"  "  duty  "  again  and  again,  as  the  key- 
note, the  rallying-point,  of  Prussia's  success  in  the 
field!     This  feeling  is  even  unassisted  by  the  tra- 
ditional "  contempt "  for  an  enemy  which  has  ever 
been  inculcated  in  the  breast  of  the  common  soldier 
elsewhere.    This  undervaluing  of  the  enemy  has  been 
supposed  to  increase  the  moral  strength  of  an  army, 
although   history  does  not  show  that  it  ever  pre- 
vented a  defeat  turning  into  a  rout.     The  Prussians, 
both   officers    and    men,  are  intuitively    taught   to 
overrate    an    enemy.      Both    in   '66    and  'yo    the 
prevailing  opinions  were  of  the  superiority  of  the 
Austrian  cavalry,  of  the  French  infantry,  &c.     The 
soldiers  themselves  used   to  make  tlieir  assertions 
dispassionately,  but  with  a  strongly  expressed  re- 
servation that,  notwithstanding  probable  first  defeats, 
they  hoped  to  win  in  the  end.     History  has  shown 
that   this    diffidence    did    not  prevent   them    being 
victorious  from  commencement  to  finish.     The  true 
value  of  this  sobriety  of  spirit  could  only  have  been 
shown  by  temporary  defeat — by  the  defensive— and 
we  feel  sure  that  the  nation  which,  above  all  others 


:s 


L  2 


148 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


THE  ARMY, 


M9 


, 


t 


I  I 


T^Km 


in  Europe,  individually  hates  war  and  bloodshed 
would  have  shown  that  spirit  under  defeat  which  is 
more  readily  found  in  troops  that  respect  their 
enemies  than  in  those  that  despise  them,  and  who, 
however  brave,  have  to  overcome  the  disenchantment 
of  finding  out  their  mistake  too  late  ! 

III. 

The  Bohemian   campaign  of    1866  brought  one 
Prussian   name   prominently  to  the  front — that  of 
Creneral  Steinmetz,  the  lion  of  Nachod.     He  was  a 
splendid  example  of  that  type  of  stubborn  soldier 
ready   to  sacrifice  any  number  of  his  men  in  his 
dowered  determination  to  rout  the  foe.     This  type  of 
soldier  has  been  common  to  all  times  and  countries. 
The  Prussian  army  had  seen  no  active  service  worth 
mentioning  for  generations,  and  a  man  of  General 
Steinmetz's    mould    was    v/ell    adapted    to   help  it 
over    the    first    squeamishness    in    tasting    blood. 
Therefore    it    was    but    natural    that    this    rugged 
soldier  of  the  Bliicher  scliool  (if  it  be  fair  to  com- 
pare him  to  so  modest  a  character  as  old  Marshal 
*•'  Vorwiirts  ")  should  have  come  out  of  the  Bohemian 
campaign  to  find  his   name   a  household   word  at 
home.     In  any  other  country  we  should  have  had 
that  frail  female  commonly  called  "  public  opinion  " 
pointing  to  General  Steinmetz  as  the  man  to  lead 
supreme  in    future  struggles.     Not  so  in  Prussia. 
A  higher    standard    than    that    of    public   opinion 
directed  and  watched  over  the  destinies  of  Germany. 
General  Steinmetz's  achievements  were  recognized 


I 


and  rewarded  as  they  deserved  to  be,  but  not  beyond 
their  deserts.  When,  in  '70,  a  nation  in  arms 
crossed  the  Pihine  to  the  strains  of  "  Die  Wacht  am 
Pthein,"  it  found  General  Steinmetz  in  command  of 
the  First  Army.  He  was  not  a  man  to  wait  long 
for  orders  when  an  enemy  was  in  sight.  He 
stormed  the  heights  of  Spicheren  and  achieved  a 
brilliant  victory,  though  at  the  price  of  a  terrible 
loss  of  life.  But  the  workmanship  that  was  good 
enough  in  '66  was  no  longer  to  be  tolerated  in  '70. 
General  Steinmetz  had  attacked  without,  if  not 
against,  orders,  and,  although  victorious,  had  dis- 
concerted the  plans  of  his  superiors,  which,  if 
properly  carried  out,  were  intended  to  cut  off  the 
army  he  had  beaten  at  such  heavy  cost.  In  any 
other  country  we  are  acquainted  with  that  frail 
hussey  "public  opinion"  would  have  lifted  the 
victorious  General  into  her  lap,  and  he  would  have 
been  on  the  high  road  to  further  honours  and 
rewards. 

Not  so  in  Prussia  ;  General  Steinmetz  was  com- 
manded to  appear  before  the  Pied  Prince  and  hear 
his  fate.  "  Your  Excellency,  although  an  old  soldier, 
has  presumably  forgotten  what  it  is  to  obey  1 " 
words  which,  translated  into  their  subsequent  mean- 
ing, conveyed  the  order  to  go  home  at  once,  stripped 
of  his  command,  in  disgrace  :  "  Cassio,  I  love  thee  ; 
but  never  more  be  officer  of  mine." 

At  the  battle  of  Le  Bourget  (before  Paris), 
October  30,  1870,  the  storming  column,  consisting 
of  the  "  Queen  Elizabeth  Pegiment,"  the  first  battalion 
of  the  regiment  "  Queen  Augusta,"  and  the  second 


% 

\  ,'iAt 


ISO 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


THE  ARMY. 


151 


"4 


company  of  the  pioneers  of  the  Guard,  was  led  by 
Colonel  Count  Kanitz.  They  were  exposed  to  a 
murderous  fire  whilst  the  pioneers  had  to  w^ork 
their  way  gradually  through  every  obstacle  in  their 
path.  The  second  battalion  of  the  Elizabeth  Eegi- 
ment  advances  with  flying  colours,  when  its  standard- 
bearer  falls  ;  another  non-commissioned  officer  seizes 
the  standard,  but  he,  too,  is  struck  down.  At  that 
moment  General  v.  Budritzki  dismounts,  seizes 
the  flag,  and  rushes  on  in  advance  of  his  grenadiers. 
Around  him  fall  in  quick  succession  Colonel  v. 
Zaluskowski,  the  commander  of  the  Elizabeth  liegi- 
ment,  and  Count  Waldersee,  wlio  had  only  rejoined 
the  army  a  few  days  cured  of  the  wound  he  had 
received  at  Gravelotte.  The  papers  were  full  of 
this  deed  of  valour  of  General  v.  Budritzki,  but  for 
all  that  he  was  not  promoted  to  an  independent 
command.  Heroism  is  not  enough  in  Prussia  to 
be  entrusted  with  tlie  welfare  of  a  Prussian  army 
corps. 

It  is  even  reported  that,  although  General  Her- 
warth  von  Bittenfeld  commanded  the  vanguard 
column  in  1866,  Moltke  refused  to  grant  him  a  cor- 
responding command  in  '70,  notwithstanding  the 
repeatedly  expressed  wish  of  the  King  himself,  with 
whom  he  was  an  especial  favourite. 

A  Prussian  officer  does  not  hold  a  responsible 
command  because  of  his  bravery,  but  because  of  his 
supposed  talent  for  the  disjjosition  of  troops  (Bis- 
positio7istale  nt). 

These  incidents  are  instructive  as  showinoj  how 
heroes,  however  exalted,  who  disobey  orders,  or  who 


— even  far  less — are  judged  incompetent  although 
appearance  successful,  are  dealt  with  by  the  ^^ 
petent  directing  minds  in  the  German  army. 


com- 


IV. 

Neither  the  efficiency  of  the  German  army  nor 
the  choice  of  its  leaders  depends  on  the  watchfulness 
of  public  opinion  ;  it  is  perfectly  independent  of  it, 
and  this  is  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  its  excellence. 
Even  Count  Waldersee,  the  successor  of  Field- 
Marshal  Moltke,  is  practically  unknown  to  the 
public,  as  he  has  never  yet  held  an  independent 
command  in  action.  The  one  supreme  condition, 
the  purity  of  the  fountain-head,  no  public  opinion 
can  guarantee ;  only  the  "  spirit"  that  dwells  in  the 
immediate  confidence  of  the  ruler,  and  makes  itself 
felt  down  to  the  common  soldier,  can  do  that. 

What  public  opinion  is  capable  of  doing  with 
regard  to  an  army  we  have  seen  only  lately.  In 
Erance,  General  Boulanger  was  installed  at  the  War 
Office,  his  popularity  daily  on  the  increase.  If, 
during  that  period,  one  of  those  frontier  squabbles 
had  led  to  war.  General  P^oulanger  would  have  been 
called  by  public  opinion  perhaps  to  the  chief  com- 
mand of  the  army !  In  this  instance  public 
opinion  might  have  placed  the  fates  of  weal  and 
woe  of  a  nation  of  38,000,000  in  the  hands  of  an 
intriguer  of  doubtful  ability  !  A  recent  instance 
of  the  line  adoj^ted  by  public  opinion  in  army  matters 
in  Austria  is  related  farther  on. 

If  we  are   to  judge  by  our   own  experience  of 


152 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


THE  ARMY. 


15 


public  opinion  at  home,  we  may  fairly  assume  that, 
if  we  were  engaged  in  a  serious  struggle,  we  should 
be  "  sloiiglied  "  with  heroes.     An  enterprising  Press 
would  see  that  they  should  break  out  all   over  the 
national   body  like   boils.     Not  so   in   the   case   of 
Prussia  in  the  war  of  '70.     The    mightiest  war  of 
modern  times  hardly  produced  a  dozen  men  round 
the  brows  of  whom  public  opinion  could  weave  its 
meretricious    wreaths.      It    was    not    intended   it 
should.     It  was  looked  upon  as   bad   form   in   the 
army  to  be  thought  a   hero;  and   a  good   sign  it 
was   so.      Quiet   duty   was   the  watchword.      Cheap 
heroism  would  often  have   been  easier  to  gain  than 
to  fulfil  quiet  duty.     Men  who  had  been  too  anxious 
to  distinguish  themselves  were  looked  at  askance  by 
their  comrades.     After  tlie  war   a   silent   etiquette 
was  promulgated  that  conversations  relating  to  in- 
dividual prowess  were  to  be  avoided.     Everybody 
was   expected   to   do  his   duty,  and   nothing   more. 
The  result  proved  that  it  has  been  fairly  done.    The 
directing  minds  said  that  it  was   not   done  in  vain. 
The  campaigns    of  '64,  of  '66,  of  '70,  came   and 
passed.     Their  butcher's  bills  were  quietly  settled 
without    swords    and  bayonets  bending,    cartridges 
jamming,    and    figliting    men    being    poisoned    by 
rotten    provisions.        Would     tliat     our    historians 
could    say    the    same    of    our    recent   brawls  with 
savages ! 

It  may  be  opined  that  the  Iron  Cross  was  after 
all  a  premium  on  personal  distinction,  and  so  it  was 
in  one  sense,  but  not  in  a  vulgar,  sporting  sense. 
The  Iron  Cross  came  as   a  reward   for   duty  done 


more  than  for  personal  distinction  acliieved,  and  in 
its  application  and  distribution  a  "  truly  "  demo- 
cratic spirit  prevailed.  The  Iron  Cross  was  in  many 
instances  on  the  breast  of  the  sergeant  and  common 
soldier  before  it  was  affixed  to  the  uniform  of  those 
in  responsible  conmiand.  Leaving  the  ranks  to 
carry  wounded  comrades  to  the  rear— a  common 
form  of  distinction  in  some  countries — was  hardly  a 
passport  to  the  Iron  Cross  in  '70.  Bismarck  is 
said  to  have  jokingly  remarked  to  a  German  prince, 
who  like  himself  wore  the  Iron  Cross,  that  they  had 
both  received  it  as  a  compliment. 

V. 

But  as  everything  has  its  two  sides,  so  do  the 
aspects  of  personal  achievement.    Nor  do  we  mean  to 
say  that  there  was  no  element  of  individual  prowess 
m  '70.    We  only  mean  to  imply  that  tlie  cheap  sort 
of  meretricious  heroism    at   the   expense   of  duty, 
which  has  been  and  would  again  be  ruin  in  serious 
battle,  was  not  encouraged  nor  rewarded.     To  prove 
that  every  rule  may  have  its  exceptions,  we  cannot 
help  mentioning  one  of  the  few  facts  that  have  come 
to  our  knowledge  in  which  the  limits  of  duty  were 
almost   exceeded    in    a    quiet    and   unostentatious 
chivalrous    manner.       It   was    at   the   hard-fought 
battle    of    Gravelotte    that    a    company    of    the 
Alexander  Guard  infantry  regiment  was  standino- 
under  a  withering  hail   of  bullets.     The  men  were 
ordered  to  lie  down  under  cover.    The  officers  alone, 
as  if  by  a  superhuman   instinct,   remained  upright,' 


154 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


THE  ARMY. 


155 


.jp- 


to  show  the  men  that,  although  they  were  not  to  be 
needlessly  exposed,  there  was  even  more  expected  of 
those  who  were  placed  above  them !  Of  twenty 
officers  eicfhteen  were  killed  or  wounded  on  that 
occasion.  If  their  action  was  an  excess  of  duty,  it 
was  not  of  a  meretricious  character.  It  was  done 
quietly,  unostentatiously,  with  no  reporters  in  sight, 
and  with  no  individual  reward  to  follow.  The  true 
reward  was,  however,  found  in  the  devotion  of  the 
troops  themselves.  For  a  few  days  afterwards,  on 
the  road  to  Sedan,  this  very  battalion  marched 
twenty-three  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four  without 
leavinGj  a  simple  man  behind  ! 

It  is  not  so  much  success  as  the  causes  that  lead 
to  it  that  must  interest  tlie  observer. 

Our  monthly  periodicals  dwell  from  time  to  time 
on  the  efficiency  of  our  army,  and  draw  compari- 
sons between  it  and  those  of  continental  nations. 
Lately  a  writer  in  the  Contemporary  Revieio 
stated  that  "the  German  armies  were  defeated  by 
the  first  Eepublic  and  by  the  Empire  of  France 
because  they  were  living  on  the  '  old  traditions '  of 
Frederick,  and  had  not  adapted  themselves  to  the 
new  conditions.  For  precisely  the  same  reasons  the 
Austrians  in  1866  and  the  French  in  1870  went 
down  before  the  Germans." 

The  above  is  all  very  well  as  applying  to  certain 
problems  of  military  science ;  but  the  "  new  con- 
ditions "  above  mentioned  are  not  identical,  nor 
covered  by  any  new  systems  of  military  tactics  or 
strategy.  For  instance,  in  '66  the  Austrian  artil- 
lery was  superior  to   the  Prussian,  and  in  '70  the 


French  rifles  were  again  far  superior  to  the  German 
needle-gun.  The  fact  is  the  "  new  conditions  "  are 
as  old  as  the  days  of  Sparta  ;  besides  all  tactical 
innovations  and  strategical  skill  in  the  leadership, 
they  mean  the  fighting  condition  of  a  liealthy  strong 
community  with  a  great  cause,  and  full  moral  con- 
fidence in  tliat  cause  at  its  back.  The  "  old  tradi- 
tions "  are  as  old  as  Darius  and  the  battle  of  Arbela, 
and  mean  the  going  down  of  an  order  of  things 
that  has  outlived  itself  through  age  or  unfitness 
or  corruption  before  the  onslaught  of  health  and 
strength. 

The  "  old  traditions  "  are  alive  in  our  midst  in 
England,  as  shown  by  the  evidence  of  the  Eoyal 
Commission  to  inquire  into  the  weapons  and  ammu- 
nition of  our  army  after  the  late  Egyptian  campaign, 
and  it  reported  that  the  bayonets,  the  swords,  as  well 
as  the  ammunition  supplied  were  partly  defective  or 
useless.  The  fiour  was  rotten,  the  biscuits  mildewed, 
and  almost  every  other  article  of  food  inferior  or 
adulterated.  And  yet  there  was  nobody  to  hang ! 
When  a  regiment  was  to  embark  from  an  Irish  port, 
it  was  found  that  half  the  men  were  dead  drunk! 
These  are  the  old  traditions  ! 

In  Prussia,  such  is  the  honest  thoroughness  and 
efficient  solicitude  for  the  army  that,  when  the  war 
of  '70  broke  out,  as  if  by  magic  tlie  whole  army 
was  found  supplied,  and  kept  supplied,  with  an 
excellent  food,  tlie  very  name  of  which— the  now- 
celebrated  pea-sausage— had  never  before  been 
heard  of  by  the  public.  Such  is  an  instance  of 
the  "  new  conditions  "  of  modern  warfare. 


156 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


THE  ARMY, 


157 


It  is  this  wondrous  efficiency,  this  honest  and 
effective  administration  and  devotion  to  duty  from 
top  to  bottom  that  arrest  our  attention. 

YI. 

We  repeat,  it  is  the  honest  devotion  to  duty  of 
the  unit  in  the  army  that  impresses  us  more  than 
the  genius  of  its  leaders.  The  one  must  pass  away, 
and  men  will  come  forward  who  are  compara- 
tively untried,  but  the  other  can,  and  must,  remain 
at  all  hazards. 

The  German  subaltern  officer  works  in  the  midst 
of  his  men ;  he  presides  not  only  over  the  drill, 
which  in  England  is  left  to  non-commissioned  officers, 
but  he  is  their  moral  as  well  as  their  technical  in- 
structor. His  whole  heart  is  in  his  profession  and 
with  his  men,  like  a  foreman  in  a  workshop.  Thus 
he  exercises  an  influence  over  the  character  of  the 
rank  and  file  confided  to  his  care  that  remains  with 
them  in  after-life.  The  Prussian  army  has  been 
the  means  of  raising  the  moral  as  well  as  the 
physical  standard  of  the  masses  of  the  country ! 

The  following  extract  from  the  German  Field 
Service  Eegulations  for  1887,  issued  for  the  use  of 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  army,  may  prove  interest- 
ing : — 

"  The  soldier  may  learn  to  march  and  to  handle 
his  weapons  by  practice ;  also  his  body  and  his 
mental  powers  may  be  developed  and  steeled ;  but 
time  alone  can  produce  that  discipline  which  is  the 
key-stone  of  the  army.      This  is  the  first  condition  of 


every  success,  and  must  be  cultivated  and  nurtured 
above  everything  else.  A  superficial  cohesion  merely 
gained  through  practice  will  give  way  in  critical 
moments  and  under  the  influence  of  unforeseen 
occurrences.  Only  by  the  most  thorough  training 
of  the  unit  can  the  necessary  cohesive  action  of  the 

many  be  attained The   officer  is  the  teacher 

and  leader  in  every  department.  This  necessitates 
his  possessing  superiority  of  knowledge  and  of  ex- 
perience, as  well  as  superior  strength  of  character. 
"Without  fear  of  responsibility,  every  officer  in  every 
crisis — even  the  most  exceptional — must  devote  his 
whole  being  to  tlie  task  of  carrying  out  his  instruc- 
tions, even  without  waiting  for  orders  respecting 
details.  The  personal  behaviour  of  the  officer  is  the 
most  decisive  influence  on  the  rank  and  file,  for  the 
inferior  is  subject  to  the  impression  that  coolness 
and  determination  make  all  along  the  line.  It  is 
not  sufficient  to  conmiand  ;  the  manner  of  the  com- 
manding exercises  a  great  influence  over  the  sub- 
ordinates. Conduct  and  example  create  confidence, 
and  nerve  the  troops  to  action  that  commands  success. 
....  Every  one — from  the  highest  officer  down  to 
the  youngest  soldier — must  always  bear  in  mind 
that  omission  and  neglect  are  more  punishable  than 
a  mistake  in  the  choice  of  means  of  action." 

VII. 

In  the  Prussian  army  such  a  thing  as  appoint- 
ment by  "  public  form  "  or  promotion  by  favouritism 
■ — let  alone  nepotism — is  unknown.    A  rigid  system 


■/,' 


158 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


't  \  \ 


of  continually  testing  tlie  capacity  of  officers  is  at 
work.  Xo  length  of  service  will  entitle  a  man  to 
promotion,  unless  his  superiors  in  command  are 
thoroughly  convinced  he  is  in  every  way  fitted  for 
it.  After  ten  or  twelve  years'  service  as  a  lieu- 
tenant, a  man  may  be  judged  fitted  to  lead  a  com- 
pany, and  thus  gets  tlie  rank  of  captain.  He  may 
be  the  best  company  leader  in  the  Prussian  service, 
and  yet  not  have  the  material  for  a  staff'  officer.  If 
such  be  the  opinion  of  his  superiors,  good-bye  to  his 
hopes  of  ever  becoming  a  major.  When  his  turn 
for  promotion  comes  round  he  receives  a  quiet  hint 
to  retire,  and,  as  a  sop,  he  carries  the  titular  dis- 
tinction of  major  into  private  life,  and  silently 
vanishes  from  the  scene.  Service  in  the  Prussian 
army  is  a  national  duty,  and  not  necessarily  a  career 
for  the  individual. 

Shattered  hopes,  a  lost  career  it  may  be,  but  down 
you  go,  as  mercilessly  as  the  grass  before  the  scythe, 
in  the  interest  of  the  community,  in  the  interest  of 
the  huge  man- slaying  machine,  in  which  you  were 
up  till  lately  the  tiniest  little  rivet,  and  nothing 
more. 

This  same  test  is  rigorously  applied  to  every  pro- 
motion right  up  to  the  rank  of  full  general.  That 
such  a  merciless  system  of  mutual  observation  and 
criticism  can  exist  without  de<:eneratin(]:  into  a 
hot-bed  of  intrigue  and  favouritism,  is,  in  itself,  the 
highest  testimony  to  the  moral  qualities  of  the 
Prussian  officer.  In  other  countries  the  command 
of  a   whole   army    is   often  given  to   an  incapable 


THE  ARMY, 


159 


creneral  and  the  results  are  invariably  such  as  might 

be  expected. 

No  regard  for  individual  sensitiveness  m  the 
German  army.  There  they  root  it  out  stump  and 
branch  in  the  interest  of  the  country. 

No  title,  no  family  connections,  however  powerful, 
are  able  to  do  more  than  enable  an  offtcer  to  serve  in 
one  of  a   few  exclusive   regiments,  but   are  by  no 
means  able  to  guarantee  his  promotion  therein.    And 
yet,  when  we  bear  in  mind  what  the  Prussian  aris- 
tocracy has  done  towards  making  the  army  what  it 
is,  we  could  even  understand  a  little  favouritism,  for 
they  have  had  their  bones  broken  for  generations  in 
the  service  without  hardly  ever  earning  any  mate- 
rial reward  in  return.     If  pride  of  birth  be  pardon- 
able, it  is  so  in  this  instance  of  generations  of  un- 
selfish  devotion  to  a  hard  service.     To  be  nearly 
related  to  a   great  Prussian  commander  is,  if  any- 
thing, a  drawback,  for  the  spirit  of  rigid  impartiality 
towards  one's  own  kith  and  kin  has  before  now  been 
the  means  of  even  hindering   an   officer's  advance- 
ment. 

One    of    Pield-Marshal    Moltke's    aides-de-camp 

throughout  the  Franco-German  War— his  brother- 
in-law— came  out  of  it  with  no  higher  rank  than  cap- 
tain,  and  retired  some  years  later  through  ill-health 
as  major  on  half-pay.  (The  number  of  those  whose 
health  was  subsequently  shattered  by  that  struggle 
almost  equalled  those  of  the  killed  and  wounded.) 

Fancy  a  favourite  relative   and  ctide-dc-ccmp  of 
Lord   Wolseley  through    a  tremendous  war— sup- 


i6o 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


THE  ARMY. 


i6i 


*^nl| 


posing  we  can  imagine  that  fortunate  peer  leading 
us  in  a  death-grapple — fancy  his  aidc-ch-cami) 
coming  back  as  he  started,  a  poor  captain  of  a  line 
regiment ! 

Yes,  this  very  poverty  is  one  of  the  hoops  of  steel 
that  binds  the  Prussian  army.  The  day  the  Prussian 
ofhcers  cease  to  be  poor,  that  day  the  supremacy  of 
the  Prussian  army  will  be  on  the  wane.  The  danger 
of  luxury  is  a  greater  one  than  any  foreign  combina- 
tion. The  present  young  Emperor,  when  still  Prince 
William,  said  as  much  when  he  gave  those  peremp- 
tory orders  to  his  regiment  against  gambling  that 
created  such  a  sensation  at  the  time.  The  key-stone 
of  the  moral  influence  and  of  the  position  of  the 
Prussian  officer  is  to  be  sought  in  the  rigid  cultiva- 
tion of  the  point  of  honour  that  may  seem  almost 
exaggerated  to  our  eyes.  The  slightest  slur  on  the 
character  of  a  Prussian  officer  is  fatal  to  his  chances 
of  promotion,  even  if  it  does  not  entail  his  imme- 
diate dismissal.  Thus  cases  of  suicide  are  very  fre- 
quent from  causes  tliat  would  appear  trivial  indeed 
to  those  who  are  not  conversant  with  the  rigidity  of 
Prussian  notions  on  this  subject.  For  an  officer  to 
become  implicated  in  a  brawl  or  quarrel  connected 
with  personal  violence,  even  if  innocent,  often  entails 
ruin,  as  it  is  the  uniform  he  wears  that  must  be 
kept  sacred  at  all  hazards. 

YIII. 

So  much  for  a  few  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
"  new  system."     But  there  are  others  than  the  mere 


questions  of  efficiency  of  commissariat,  conscientious- 
ness in  the  performance  of  duty,  intellectual  acquire- 
ments of  the  officers  and  leaders,  and  freedom  from 
foul  patronage  and  nepotism  that  come  up  for  con- 
sideration when  we  examine  the  qualifications  of  a 
victorious  army.  It  is  not  only  the  old  tactical 
traditions  that  go  down  before  the  modern  improved 
"  system  ;  "  it  is  the  meaner  impulse  that  invariably 
succumbs  to  the  higher,  the  morally  eflete  to  the 
strong  and  healthy.  As  the  Persians  went  down 
before  the  Greeks,  and  as  they  in  their  turn  suc- 
cumbed to  the  Ptomans,  so  the  latter  in  their 
effeminacy  bit  the  dust  before  hardy  barbarian 
hordes. 

How  clearly  the  importance  of  the  moral  in- 
fluence is  shown  by  Oliver  Cromwell  in  liis  letters ! 
"  How  can  we  expect  loafers  and  tapsters  to  stand 
up  against  gentlemen  with  a  keen  sense  of  honour 
and  loyalty  to  their  Sovereign  ?  We  must  give 
them  an  even  higher  impetus  :  we  must  appeal  to 
their  God ! " 

And  from  that  day  forward,  even  without  new 
tactical  systems,  down  went  the  Poyalists  !  They 
went  down  before  the  fierce  Covenanters,  who  sought 
death  at  their  hands,  but  kept  their  powder  dry  ! 

Coming  to  later  times,  we  see  the  same  "  spirit " 
at  work  deciding  tlie  fate  of  nations.  In  the 
American  War  of  Independence  the  oft-victorious 
English  had  to  lower  their  standard  to  their  own 
kin.  The  watchword  of  "  God  save  the  King  "  was 
unable  to  stifle  the  cry  of  men  fighting  for  their 
existence. 


f 


162 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


THE  ARMY. 


163 


i« 


:| 


m 


I 

4 


The  young  French  Eepublic  singing  the  "]\Iar- 
seillaise  "  and  throwing  off'  the  tyranny  of  a  corrupt 
feudalism  was  victorious  as  long  as  it  fought  against 
such,  for  it  was  not  so  much  the  old  lighting  system 
that  lowered  Prussia's  iiags  at  Jena  as  the  fact  of 
its  army  having  become  a  haughty,  self-indulgent, 
separate  caste,  no  longer  identical  with  the  nation. 
r>nt  as  soon  as  the  Prench   watchword  of   "gloiy^" 
was   seriously  tested  against  the  devoted  religious 
fanaticism  of  the  Ptussians,  not  even  the  genius  of 
a  IN'apoleon  could  prevail.     And  once  the  CJerman 
nation  rose  to  Luther's  hymn,  "  Eine  feste  Burg  ist 
unser  Clott,"  when  once  Ernst  Moritz  Arndt   gave 
out  his  "  Der  Gott,  der  Eisen  wachsen  liess,  der  wollte 
keine  Knechte  "  (The  God  that  bid  the  iron  be,  could 
never  wish  for  slaves)  :  when  this  spirit  rose,  the  day 
of  glory  ("  le  jour  de  gloire  "  of  the  "  Marseillaise  ") 
had  sunk  into  night  and  the  French  marshals  were 
beaten    in    every   engagement    in    which  the  great 
Napoleon  did  not   command    in    person    until    the 
battle  of  Leipzig  gave  him  the  cotip-de-grdcc. 

It  may  be  an  effect  of  the  imagination,  but  when 
we  remember  the  soul-stirring  sounds  of  the  famous 
"Watch  on  the  Phine,"  "  Es  braust  ein  Puf  wie 
Donnerschall  ....  Fest  steht  und  treu  die  Wacht 
am  Ehein,"  we  tliink  we  hear  the  manifestation  of 
that  invincible  spirit  against  which  it  was  but  natural 
that  the  "  Marseillaise  "  should  shriek  in  vain. 

When  w^e  recall  those  public  gatherings  in  Carls- 
ruhe,  Berlin,  and  elsewhere  after  the  news  of  the  first 
victories,  when  the  bare-headed  crowd  joined  in  those 
soul-stirring  chorals  of  Luther's,  we  feel  that  spirit 
was  bound  to  conquer. 


So  nmch  for  the  action  of  the  divine  instinct 
which  binds  us  to  the  unseen  and  unknown  in  its 
influence  on  the  affairs  of  man  in  war.  It  is  divine 
inasmuch  as  it  appeals  to  and  draws  its  strength  from 
something  higher  than  our  every- day  selfishness  and 
vanity — the  devotion  of  each  unit  to  the  welfare  of 
the  entirety.  Where  this  spirit  prevails  in  the  ad- 
ministration as  well  as  in  the  peoj^le,  cartridges  will 
1)6  found  to  go  off,  there  also  provisions  will  be  found 
adequate,  and  there  will  victory  incline.  May  that 
stern  sense  of  devotion  to  duty,  may  that  rare  effi- 
ciency and  integrity  in  its  administrators,  may 
that  earnest  enthusiasm  for  an  independent,  united 
Fatherland,  long  distinguish  the  Germans  and  pre- 
serve them  as  the  great  nation  they  deserve  to  be  ! 

IX. 

Others  may  try  to  copy  the  system  that  has 
shown  such  excellent  results,  but  they  cannot 
suddenly  appropriate  the  qualities  that  have  made 
the  German  army  what  it  is.  The  one  and  the 
other  are  too  much  bound  up  in  the  qualities  of 
the  people,  and  are  the  result  of  the  laborious  work 
of  generations.  Parliamentary  legislation  born  of 
an  excited  expression  of  public  opinion  cannot 
supply  such  to  order ! 

To  take  but  one  special  feature  that  has  done 
so  much  to  raise  the  moral  value  of  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  German  army — the  leavening  of  the  mass 
with  the  educated  element — the  one-year  service. 
It  has  been  tried  in  France,  and  had  to  be  given 

M  2 


y  ( 


#.. 


« 


n 


164 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


up.  The  rank  and  file  of  that  land  of  equality, 
instead  of  benefiting  by  its  association  with  the 
educated  classes,  were  envious  of  the  favoured 
elements,  sneered  at  them  as  "  aristos  "  (aristocrats), 
and  made  their  life  a  misery  to  them.  The  con- 
sequence is  that  everybody  in  France  now  serves 
equally  his  full  time  in  the  ranks,  and  many  of  the 
educated  classes  leave  the  army  thoroughly  disgusted 
with  the  hardship  and  coarseness  of  the  life  and 
its  associations. 

The  career  of  General  Boulanger  in  itself  throws 
a  lurid  light  on  the  incapacity  to  raise  the  higher 
ranks  of  the  army  to  a  level  that  could  inspire 
confidence  in  their  discipline. 

The  French  have  copied  the  cunning  of  espionage, 
but  the  unity  of  moral  purpose  does  not  seem  yet  to 
be  theirs.  They  have  a  great  military  history,  and 
they  love  war ;  the  imagination  of  the  race  is  cap- 
tivated by  it,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  tem- 
perament of  the  people  fits  them  for  its  requirements 
in  our  day.  Tlie  next  struggle  will  solve  that  ques- 
tion. But  one  thing  is  certain  :  the  days  of  the  hcau 
sahreur  of  popular  imagination — the  prize-fighting 
warriors  of  old — are  gone  from  the  scene  of  modern 
warfare  for  ever.  The  tactical  training  of  the  unit 
under  a  model  organization  of  the  whole,  led  by  the 
comprehensive  mind,  more  surely  than  ever  wins  the 
day.  The  highest  discipline  without  red  tape  seems 
to  be  the  recipe  for  victory  nowadays,  for  nowhere  is 
independence  of  judgment,  freedom  of  initiative,  from 
the  leader  of  a  corps  (VaniUc  down  to  the  non-com- 
missioned ofticer,  so  cultivated  and  encouraged  as  in 


THE  ARMY. 


165 


the  German  army.  The  French  temperament  pos- 
sesses these  qualities  to  an  eminent  degree  {Vesyrit 
dc  la  situation)  but  it  lacks  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant qualities  that  lead  to  success  always — the 
due  subordination  of  the  individual. 

Of  Austrian  military  affairs  we  do  not  often  hear 
much,  but,  when  we  do,  it  is  always  a  sad  business. 
At.  the  time  of  the  occupation  of  Bosnia  and  the 
Herzegovina  after  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  their  cavalry 
not  only  managed  to  receive  a  check  at  the  hands 
of  irregulars,  but,  almost  amusing  to  relate,  their 
soldiers  were  on  several  occasions  in  danger  of  star- 
vation. Poor  simple  souls  ;  their  leaders  had  doubt- 
less heard  of  the  Prussian  "  fiushness "  of  cash 
during  the  '70  war,  and,  with  true  Austrian  cunning, 
they  had  provided  themselves  with  money !  The 
unimportant  fact  tliat  Bosnia  is  not  identical  with 
wealthy  agricultural  France  had  not  suggested  itself 
to  these  strategic  thinkers. 

But  far  worse  than  all  this  was  the  little  episode 
at  CJraz  the  other  day.  Austrian  public  opinion 
was  in  a  fever  of  surmise  at  the  sudden  misc-cn- 
retraitc  of  General  von  Kuhn.  The  journals  of  the 
dual-monarchy  expressed  their  surprise,  and  in  the 
hope  that  the  army  would  not  lose  the  services  of 
such  an  eminent  soldier  in  the  hour  of  need.  No 
sooner  had  public  opinion  let  us  into  its  high  estimate 
of  General  von  Kuhn  than  that  distinguished  officer 
himself  assists  us  to  form  an  estimate  of  its  egregious 
folly.  In  his  speech  to  500  officers  at  Crraz  who 
made  a  demonstration  in  his  favour,  carrying  him 
home  on  their  shoulders  and  flourishing  their  swords, 


1 66 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


THE  ARMY. 


167 


Ai 


he  proved  himself  to  be  a  windbag,  as  the  following 
few  excerpts  prove  : — 

"  My  prowess  at  Santa  Lucia  is  known ;  it  belongs 
to  history.  It  is  less  known,  perhaps,  that  at 
Custozza  I  stood  with  only  two  guns  and  without 
any  cover   against   a  whole   army  corps,  and   thus 

partially  contributed  to  the  success  of  the  day 

In  the  year  1 8  5  9  I  had  the  intention  of  taking  the 
offensive.  That  it  did  not  take  place  was  not  my 
fault.  If  the  offensive  liad  l^een  followed  up,  things 
would  look  different  in  Europe  to-day  (!).  If  we 
had  taken  the  offensive  at  Sadowa  tlie  victory  would 
have  been  ours." 

Of  such  stuff*  are  officers  wlio  hold  the  highest 
commands  still  made  in  Austria,  and  such  is  the 
standard  of  the  rank  of  the  officers  tliat  500  of 
them  can  be  found  to  applaud  it.  Xo  wonder  the 
Austrian  Emperor  judged  it  was  time  to  shunt  such 
a  man. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  tlie  conduct  of 
General  von  Kulin,  as  well  as  that  of  the  500 
Austrian  officers,  was  as  discreditable  as  it  would  be 
impossible  in  •  CJermany.  It  only  proves  what  a 
hopelessly  long  way  Austria  is  yet  from  that  ideal 
standard  of  efficiency  which  they  fondly  fancy  they 
have  acquired  by  their  defeats  from  the  Prussians ! 

What  a  contrast  to  a  man  such  as  von  Moltke ! 
Lord  Wolseley  does  iiot  believe  he  will  go  down  to 
posterity  as  one  of  the  greatest  captains ;  but  strip 
him  of  strategic  exploits  that  seek  in  vain  in  history 
for  a  parallel  to  the  magnitude  of  their  scale,  strip 
him  of  that  literary  ability  that  has  given  us  charm- 


ing books  of  travel,  and  a  purity,  a  terseness,  a 
dignity  of  style  that  has  earned  a  comparison  with 
Tadtus  for  the  history  of  the  '70  war  issued  by  the 
Prussian  (leneral  Staff';  strip  him  of  all  this,  and  a 
character  remains,  unsullied  in  its  spotless  purity 
as   in   its   modesty:   a   cultivated   intellect    of   the 

highest  order. 

Tlie  man  whose  iron,  inuiuestioned,  supreme 
decision  has  winged  the  flight  of  Prussian  victory, 
is  almost  a  hermit  in  the  privacy  of  his  Silesian 

retreat. 

This  silent  warrior,  for  whom  the  Germans  have 
found  in  their  expressive  language  the  beautiful  words, 
"  der  Schlochtenlenker,  der  Schlachtendenker  "  (the 
director,  the  thinker  of  battle),  when  this  silent 
thinker  speaks,  it  is  the  trumpet-blast  of  war  that 
(^alls  for  his  utterances.  They  crystallize  ;  they  turn 
to  cn'anite  to  mark  the  milestones  of  history  in  which 
his  country  figures  victoriously. 

Our  Wellington  in  Spain,  and  Cincinnatus  in 
Pome,  unite  to  furnish  historical  parallels  to  his 
character.  His  example  is  the  proudest  possession 
of  the  Prussian  army. 

X. 

We  cannot  conclude  this  chapter  without  a  word 
of  criticism  on  our  own  army  system,  though  it  is  a 
thankless  task— something  like  firing  at  a  barn- 
door ten  yards  off ;  you  cannot  help  hitting  it ! 

In  order  to  raise  the  scientific  qualifications  of  our 
officers    we    have — in   mistaken    imitation    of    the 


1 68 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY 


Prussian  tests — introduced  a  severe  system  of  com- 
petitive examination.  As  usual  with  our  official 
imitations,  instead  of  improving  on  the  original  we 
liave  entirely  missed  the  substance  and  grasped  the 
shadow.  Such  a  tiling  as  "  competitive  "  examina- 
tion as  a  means  of  entering  the  army  does  not  exist 
m  Prussia.  The  Prussian  aspirant  has  to  pass  "an  " 
examination  to  test  his  fitness,  but  not  a  "com- 
petitive "  one  I  Therein  lies  the  difference  between 
the  substance  and  the  shadow. 

Our  competitive  examinations  favour  the  chances 
of  the  bookworm  to  a  ridiculous  extent,  and  in 
many  cases  exclude  tlie  cliaracter  capable  of  quick 
resolution  and  prompt  initiative— qualities  so  highly 
valued  in  the  Prussian  service  that  they  are  even 
specially  dwelt  on  in  the  printed  instructions  for 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  army  previously  referred  to. 
Our  present  method  has  given  us  the  Staff*  College 
instructors,  and  started  a  system  of  "  cramming  "  by 
which  men  who  have  been  pupils  and,  later  on"^  pre- 
ceptors at  the  Staff  College  are  able  to  earn  an 
income  of  ^5000  to  ^6000  a  year  by  preparino 
candidates  for  the  service  examinations  ! 

It  does  not  i-equire  any  argumentative  force  to 
show  that  our  competitive  examinations  nmst  thus 
miss  their  mark,  for  every  form  of  crannning  means 
knowledge  artificially  acquired  and  illegitimately 
applied.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  even 
excludes  some  of  the  finest  material  \\\  the  country 
from  the  army  !  But  that  is  the  way  we  have  gone 
in  for  the  "  new  system "  that  laid  the  Austrians 
and  the  French  low  !     And  yet  one  of  our  leadino- 


THE  ARMY. 


169 


journals  tells  us:  "We  cannot  afford  to  have  it 
understood  throughout  Europe  that  there  is  any 
point  whatever  in  which  the  British  army  is  sur- 
passed by  those  of  continental  nations."  If  this 
be  true,  then  it  is  a  dead  certainty  that  we  indulge 
in  luxuries  we  cannot  afford.  Our  newspapers 
are  discussing  the  excellence  of  the  new  German 
drill  regulations  and  advising  their  adoption.  Vain 
endeavour;  the  spirit  that  still  believed  in  1855 
the  verdict  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  in  1815, 
that  a  bullet  was  no  use  unless  large  enough  to 
smash  a  horse's  leg — that  spirit,  unhappily,  lives 

on  among  us ! 

Of  our  officers  themselves  the  Duke  of  Cambridge 
sapiently  informed  us  the  other  day  that  the  main 
difference  between  them  and  the  Prussians  consists 
in  the  fact  that  the  latter  live  on  their  pay  and  the 
former  do  not.  No,  sir,  that  is  not  the  only  differ- 
ence ;  our  officers  are  not  only  members  of  a^  privi- 
leged class,  but  they  feel  and  work  like  Foreign 
Office  clerks,  from  ten  till  four.  Tliey  cannot  help 
it  if  they  would ;  the  surroundings    are  too  strong 

for  them. 

It  may  confidently  be  said  of  our  army  that  as 
long  as  it  is  administered  as  it  is,  fanned  by  occa- 
sional gusts  of  newspaper  and  public-speaker  panics, 
so  long  will  it  remain  a  sink  down  which  to  throw 
riiillions  of  money,  but  never  a  reliable  means  of 
defence  to  our  country ! 


(     I70    ) 


CHAPTEII  VIII. 

THE  GERMAlSr  ARISTOCRACY. 

Unde  superbit  homo,  cujus  conceptio  culpa, 
Nasci  poena,  labor  vita,  neccsse  mori  ? 

0 

I. 

:N"ot  only  in  its  character,  but  in  its  very  composi- 
tion, the  German  aristocracy  sliows  a  marked  con- 
trast to  our  own.  With  us  many  of  tlie  most  elo- 
quent panegyrists  of  aristocracy  are  to  be  found 
outside  its  charmed  circle;  in  (lermany  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  many  sympathizers  w^th  the  nobility 
among  the  middle  classes  or  among  the  masses. 
And  the  explanation  is  not  to  be  sought  only  in  the 
difference  of  the  two  aristocracies  themselves. 
Differences  of  evolution,  of  tradition,  and  of  influ- 
ence account  for  this  and  many  otlier  peculiarities 
of  the  German  aristocracy. 

We  remember  the  surprise  of  a  great  Prussian 
landowner  on  being  told  of  the  almost  tyrannical 
power  our  land  laws  and  our  leasehold  system  give 
to  an  English  territorial  grandee.  "  How  can  your 
people  put  up  with  it  ? "  he  exclaimed.  And  yet 
such  is  the  case.  We  have  long  put  up  with  things 
that  have  produced  revolutions  elsewhere.     And  yet 


THE  ARISTOCRACY, 


171 


the  English  aristocracy  still  has  a  large  following  in 
the  country,  whilst  in  Germany  the  nobility  has  next 
to  none.  Weighty  causes  must  be  found  to  account 
for  this,  quite  independent  of  any  amount  of  servility 
in  the  English  character,  or  any  want  of  that  amiable 
compound  in  the  (lerman;  both  nations,  to  start 
with,  may  have  little  to  reproach  themselves  with 
on  that  score.  These  causes  will  be  found  to  exist 
to  a  large  extent  in  the  following  facts  and  their 
consequences. 

II. 

The    ( ierman    aiistocracy,    notwithstanding    its 
many  strong  points,  has  ever  been  not  only  guilty 
of  great  class  seltishness— as   has    ever  been  every 
privileged   class— but   it    has   been  the    victim    of 
its    own    short-sighted    and   narrow    class    feeling. 
In  England   a  far-sighted   policy  of   sacrificing   its 
units  has  strengthened  the  power  for  good  and  for 
evil  of  a  class.     In  Germany  the   anxiety   of  each 
unit  to  retain  its  shadowy  advantages  has  resulted 
in  the  loss  of  what  was  most  valuable  to  retain,  and 
in  the  retention   of  much  which,  though  of  small 
value  to-day,  has  contributed  not  a  little  to  reap  for 
its  holders  that  lack  of  sympathy  of  which  we  find 
the    Germany    aristocracy    the    object  in  its   own 

country. 

In  olden  times  a  title  meant  more  than  a  mere 
empty  attribute  of  privileged  birth;  it  meant  a 
position  of  power,  either  personal  or  inherited.  Not 
so  many  centuries  ago  even  the  oflspring  of  royal 
blood  in  England,  let  alone  the  sons  of  the  nobility, 


172 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


THE  ARISTOCRACY, 


173 


were  coininoners.     Eoyalty  has  in  our  day  adopted 
the  fiction  that  every  son  of  a  king  is  born  a  prince. 
The    main    difference    between    the    aristocracy  of 
England  and  that  of  Germany  is  to  be  found  in  the 
fact    that    the    German    aristocracy    has    slavishly 
adopted  the  example  of  royalty,  whereas  the  English 
aristocracy  has,  up  to  the  present  day,  held  to  the 
original    idea   that    a   title   must   represent   power. 
Primogeniture  is  the  key-note  of  the  English  aristo- 
cratic power ;  the  title  is  reserved  to  the  eldest  son, 
who  inherits  the  bulk  of  the  property.      Thus  an 
English  title  usually  means  a  large  landowner.     A 
German  title  means  in  most  cases  nothing  more  than 
an  amiable  descendant  of  one  of  many  who  once, 
"perhaps,"  owned  land  and  power.     The  English 
aristocracy  lives  on  its  estates  in  the  country,°and 
there  forms  centres  of  social  and  political  life.   '  The 
small   percentage   of   the   German   aristocracy  that 
lives  in  the  country,  even  if  rich,  leads  a  life  of 
economy,  solitude,  and  intellectual  stagnation.     It 
wields  neither  social  nor  political  influence. 
^  Not  only  in  the  transmission  of  titles  have  the 
Germans  copied  the  example  of  royalty,  but  in  other 
points  of  scarcely  minor  importance.     The  modern 
royal   customs— even  laws— of  intermarrying    only 
with    equals,    which   were    originally   designed   for 
political  purposes  only,  have  found  servile  followers 
among  the  German  aristocracy,  without  any  excuse 
or  pretence   of  policy.      The  consequences  of  such 
action  have  shown  themselves  to  be  disastrous  in 
more  senses  than  one.     They  have  resulted  in  the 
gradual  erection  of  a  barrier  which  in  our  day  may 


be  said  to  divide  the  aristocracy  of  birth  from  the 
aristocracy  of  intellect  and  the  middle  classes  more 
than  they   are   so   divided   in  any  other  European 

country. 

The*^  Germans,  who  before  now  have  been  accused 
of  pedantry  and  doctrinarism,  have  proved  them- 
selves   essentially  pedantic  and  doctrinaire  in  the 
constitution  of  their  aristocracy.*      It  is  an  unduly 
extended  and  yet  a  closed  oligarchy  with  a  weak 
action  of  the  heart.     With  us   the   aristocracy   is 
constantly  strengthened  by  the   admission   of   new 
blood.     Not  only  that,  but  the  younger  branches  of 
a  great  house  pass  untitled  and  unnoticed  back  into 
the   commonality,  and  carry   with    them   into   the 
middle-classes  their   sympathies  for  their  powerful 
relations.     The  Cierman  system  has  had  the  precisely 
opposite  effect.     Each  scion  of  a  noble  family  in- 
herits the  title,  the  social  status,  and  the  obligation 
to  marry  according  to  his   station    {standesgcmdss). 
This  erects  a  barrier  between  him  and  the  untitled 
which  has  proved  disastrous  in  its  results  all  round. 
AVhat  would  a  German  petty   baron  think  of  the 
son  of  an  English  duke,  whose  ancestry  might  put 
half  the  "  Almanach  de  Gotha  "  to  shame,  marrying 
a  commoner's  dau'ghter,  or  entering  a  wine  merchant's 
or  a  stockbroker's  ottice  ?     And  yet  the  former  very 
often    happens,    and    the   latter   has    happened,  in 
England  without  lessening  by  one  iota  the  prestige  of 
the\ristocracy.    The  well-connected  English  member 


*  This  applies  even  with  greater  force  to  the  Austrians,  who 
in  this  as  in  so  many  other  points  are  one  with  the  Germans. 


174 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


of  the  middle  classes  may  well  look  upon  a  2)eer  as 
only  his  superior  by  chance  of  primogeniture  ;  he  is 
of  the  same  stock — of  the  same  flesh  and  blood. 
The  (German  untitled  citizen  is  cut  off  from  the  aris- 
tocracy without  even  an  imaginary  connecting  link. 
In  Saxony,  indeed,  so  distinct  is  the  line  that 
se])arates  the  aristocracy  from  the  jieople  that  the 
former  can  even  be  seen  to  be  of  an  entirely  different 
race  from  the  latter.  The  Saxon  nobility  is  a  tall, 
fair-haired  race,  witli  the  true  Germanic  cast  of 
features,  whereas  tlie  mass  of  the  population  is 
rather  short  and  thickset,  with  features  bearing 
distinct  traces  of  Slavonic  blood. 


III. 

German  pedantry  hugs  the  magical  word  "  von," 
the  idea  of  quarterings — even  if  they  be  emblazoned 
on  empty  space— and,  in  so  doing,  has  often,  here  as 
elsewhere,  sacrificed  the  substance  for  the  shadow. 
Thus,  German  pedantry  has  no  idea  of  the  English 
feeling  that  classes  untitled  families  among  the 
proudest  aristocracy  of  the  country — such  as  have 
refused  titles,  but  are  well  known  by  their  honourable 
standing  of  generations.  It  is  the  "  von  "  that  does 
it,  not  the  distinction  of  the  family.  Though,  once 
the  ^'  von  "  possessed,  it  must  be  admitted  that  an 
old,  inferior  title  stands  far  higher  than  a  modern 
one  of  more  ambitious  sound. 

Far  be  it  from  us  to  lose  sight  of  the  splendid 
qualities  to  be  found  among  the  German  aristocracy. 
Still,  we  cannot  help  deploring  wliat  we  must  con- 


THE  ARISTOCRACY, 


175 


sider  the  weak  points  of  an  institution  which  must 
reform,  or  lose  much  that  its  well-wishers  would 
gladly  see  it  retain. 

Even  German  royalty  has  of  late  set  the  German 
aristocracy  a  shining  example  of  rising  superior  to 
class  prejudice,  if  not  in  the  matter  of  marriage 
(this  it  has  often  done),  yet  in  another  direction. 

Duke  Charles  Theodore  of  Bavaria  has  set  up  in 
regular  practice  as  an  oculist  at  his  own  expense. 
He  has  built  a  regular  hospital  for  eye  diseases,  in 
which  the  poor  receive  advice  gratis.     He  himself 
has  his  daily  hours  of  consultation  from  two  till  five 
o'clock  in  his  own  house,  where,  assisted  by  a  young 
doctor  in  his  pay,  patients  of  every  station  receive 
advice  gratis.      It  is  stated  that  in  the  course  of  a 
few  months  he  gave  advice  to  2800  patients  and 
performed    290    operations,  among    them    some  of 
great  importance.      It  is  interesting  to  note  that  his 
wife,  a  princess  of  Braganza,  thoroughly  enters  into 
her  husband's   profession,  and   constantly  performs 
the  duties  of  nurse  to  his  patients. 

Another  Bavarian  prince,  Louis  Ferdinand,  uncle 
of  the  present  King — married  to  the  Spanish  Infanta 
Maria  de  la  Paz — studied  medicine  in  Munich  and 
Heidelberg.  The"  Bavarian  Government  waived  the 
State  examination  in  his  favour,  and  he  is  now  enter- 
ing on  regular  practice. 

Princess  Helene  of  Schleswig-Holstein— aunt  of 
the  present  Emperor— is  not  only  married  to  I'ro- 
fessor  von  Esmarch,  the  eminent  surgeon,  but  he  is 
recoiznized  and  is  on  the  best  of  terms  with  the 
royal  relatives  of  his  wife. 


176 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


Lastly,  a  Wiirtemberg  princess  is  married  to  a 
Breslau  doctor,  and,  strange  to  say,  instead  of  raising 
himself  in  the  profession  by  such  a  match,  he  is 
even  said  to  be  looked  upon  askance  by  his  col- 
leagues for  having  married  out  of  his  sphere  of 
life. 

What  the  untitled  intellectual  class  of  Germany 
thinks  of  the  prejudices  and  privileges  of  the  Ger- 
man aristocracy  is  well  illustrated  by  the  following 
words  of  the  eminent  writer,  Gustav  Freytag:* — 

"  The  German  commoner  will  ever  be  an  uncom- 
promising opponent  of  all  those  political  and  social 
privileges  by  w^hich  the  aristocracy  still  claim  an 
exceptional  position  among  the  people.  Not  because 
he  is  envious  of  these  usages,  or  that  he  would 
wish  to  put  himself  in  their  place,  but  because  he 
recognizes  sadly  \ohne  Frmde]  that  in  their  con- 
sequence they  are  apt  to  warp  their  judgment,  their 
knowledge  of  the  world,  and  also  their  firmness  of 
character.  Not  only  that,  but  because  some  of  these 
antiquated  traditions,  such  as  the  privileged  position 
of  the  aristocracy  at  Court,  even  expose  our  princes 
to  the  danger  of  sinking  down  into  the  narrow 
horizon  of  the  German  Junker,  For  the  noblest 
force,  the  leadership  in  the  domain  of  ideal  and 
practical  affairs,  lies  with  the  citizen  class." 


*  *'  Bildern  aus  der  deutschen  Vergangenheit,"  vol.  iv. 


THE  ARISTOCRACY, 


IV. 


"^n 


Changes  are  more  easily  suggested  than  carried 
out,  and  more  so  when,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
German  aristocracy,  a  good  deal  is  to  be  said  for 
things  as  they  are. 

Its  very  poverty  has  called  forth  special  virtues, 
and  in  many  other  ways  the  German  aristocracy  has 
been  able  to  retain  much  that  is  valuable  and  in 
danger  of  being  swept  away  in  our  democratic  age. 
But  even  taking  the  good  manners  and  breeding, 
so  beneficial  in  social  intercourse — the  sense  of 
chivalry  often  inculcated  from  fatlier  to  son — at 
their  highest  estimate,  we  must  deplore  the  more 
than  narrow  spirit  that  has  so  limited  their  sphere 
of  influence. 

The  English  aristocracy  is  popular  because,  side  by 
side  with  the  greatest  possible  development  of  class 
power,  it  has  retained  its  connection  w^ith  the  j)eople 
by  its  younger  sons,  who  mingle  and  intermarry 
with  the  middle  classes.  It  is  popular  because  its 
ranks  are  constantly  recruited  from  the  people,  if 
even  in  a  somewhat  eccentric  fashion.  But,  above  all, 
the  sources  of  its  popularity  must  be  sought  in  the 
extraordinary  instances  of  strong  characters  it  has 
ever  had  the  good  fortune  to  produce.  And  not 
only  this,  but  because  the  peculiarities  of  its  con- 
stitution have  ever  allowed  such  characters  to  wield 
political  power,  and  thus  to  attain  great  personal 
popularity.  English  nobles  have  dazzled  the  popular 
imagination  by  their  liberal  ideas,  by  their  generosity, 
by  their  individual  superiority  to  class  selfishness. 

N 


178 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


They  have  not  weakened  the  power  of  their  class  by 
so  doing,  but  strengthened  its  hold  on  the  feelings  of 
their  countrymen.  And  to  what  an  extent  they  have 
been  successful  in  so  doing  may  be  judged  by  those 
who  fully  realize  what  the  power  of  a  title  is  to-day 
in  England  in  our  democratic  age  of  transition.  An 
unworthy  subserviency  of  the  middle  classes,  a  base 
instinct  of  cringing  and  toadying  to  the  fountain  of 
many  favours,  may  explain  "  some,"  but  it  does  not 
explain  by  any  means  "  all "  the  hold  the  English 
aristocracy  has  retained  on  the  imagination  of  the 
people.  Least  of  all  does  it  explain  the  hold  it 
has  on  the  uneducated  masses.  That  influence  is 
partly  due  to  many  excellent  qualities  that  the 
English  privileged  class  has  shown  from  time  im- 
memorial. 

English  popular  feeling  rightly  or  wrongly  looks 
upon  the  aristocracy  as  a  curb  on  the  pretension 
of  royalty.  The  German  people  look  upon  their 
aristocracy  as  the  toadies  of  royalty.  English  nobles 
do  not  care  to  hang  about  a  Court  like  German 
nobles,  for  the  German  nobles,  as  a  class,  feel  it 
their  vocation  to  serve  the  Crown.  They  have 
less  sentiment  for  the  country  at  large,  less  of  a 
broader  patriotism. 

The  quarrel  of  Bismarck  witli  Count  Arnim  re- 
vealed some  of  those  characteristics  of  the  Prussian 
Court  noble  that  are  so  distasteful  to  the  people  at 
large ;  in  fact,  it  may  be  said  that  the  popular  feeling 
that  Bismarck  was  lighting  an  aristocratic  Court 
intrigue  upheld  his  popularity  through  this  memo- 
rable trial. 


THE  ARISTOCRACY, 


179 


Eich  Englishmen  of  position  do  not  like  the 
^scraping  and  bowing  of  Court  life ;  it  is  foreign  to 
the  best  English  character.  They  either  mix^vith 
^ninces  on  terms  of  semi-equality  or  avoid  them. 

But  we  are  not  writing  a  treatise  on  the  English 
aristocracy,  and  we  only  mention  some  of  its  good 
l)oints  and  their  results  in  order  to  show  more 
markedly  how  similar  evidences  of  class-influence 
^re  absolutely  non-existent  in  Germany.  We  can 
but  draw  our  conclusions.  Whoever  would  expect 
a  noble  German  landowner  to  head  a  subscription 
list  for  any  scientific  or  charitable  purpose  ?  Who- 
ever thinks  of  asking  a  noble  in  Germany  to  pre- 
side at  a  public  dinner  ?  The  German  Philistine 
would  feel  his  dignity  offended  by  so  doing,  though 
he  might  be  wilHng  to  toady  quickly  enough  to^'a 
high-placed  official ;  but  to  subordinate  himself  to 
a  mere  title  would  revolt  his  nobler  self.  The  Ger- 
man will  bow  and  cringe  to  a  powerful  official,  but 
not  to  a  mere  empty  title — "  Nie  und  Ximmermehr." 
The  same  may  almost  be  said  of  the  highly  cultured 
professional  and  mercantile  classes.  The  feeling  of 
reverence  for  the  aristocracy  does  not  exist  in  "the 
form  we  know  it.    ^ 

As  for  tlie  lower  orders,  their  sentiments  for  the 
nobility  are  such  that  the  least  said  of  them  the 
better.  The  distrust  felt  towards  the  nobility  by  the 
masses  is  so  great  that  the  German  Conservative 
party  have  to  take  it  into  account,  and  are  often 
forced  to  put  forward  parliamentary  candidates 
without  titles,  fearing  that  it  would  be  impossible 
to  carry  through  one  of  their  own  order.     In  Enrrknd 

N  2 


i8o  IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 

a  personal  connection  of  a  prominent  public  man  or 
of  a  great  landlord  is  sure  of  a  following  among  the 
electorate.  Even  a  man  like  Mr.  Gladstone  had  to 
fi^ht  hard  in  a  Liberal  constituency  agamst  the  m> 
nT^ence  of  the  young  and  politically  unknown  son 
of  the  great  Scotch  landowner,  the  Duke  of  Buc- 
cleuch.  In  Germany  being  the  son  of  a  great 
landowner  would  avail  him  next  to  nothing. 


V. 

It  would  indeed  be  reading  the  signs  of  the  times, 
wronoly  if  we  only  deduced  this  marked  difference 
from'k  greater  independence  of  the  German  people. 
It  is  not  that,  for  the  German  Philistine  can  be  a^ 
debasingly  fawning  as  any  smiling  Briton.  lie 
main  explanation  lies  in  the  ditierence  of  the 
German  aristocracy  to  our  own. 

It  no  longer  has  any  power  to  wield  for  good  or 
for  bad,  except  in  its   own  society.      Elsewhere   it 
has  little  or  no  influence.     It  has  nothing  to  give 
no  favours  to  confer,  as  the  reward  for  being  toadied 
to      Our  aristocracy  can  still  give  and  confer,      ihe 
German  has  rarely  produced  men  who  lead  great, 
movements,  who  stand  in  the  front  rank  fighting  for 
new  ideas,  rallying  a  large  following  around  them, 
while  casting  a  lustre  on  the  class  they  spring  from. 
And  if  the  cases  of  Stein  and  Bismarck  are  held  up 
to  us  as  proofs  of  the  contrary,  we  submit  that  the 
popularity  of  these  great  men  was,  and  is,  pure  y 
personal,  and  as  it  did  not  spring  from,  certainly 
does  not  at  all  transmit  itself  to,  the  class  to  which 


THE  ARISTOCRACY. 


i8i 


they  belong.     The  susceptibility  to  such  a  feeling 
•does  not  exist. 

The  German  mind  can  only  grasp  a  popular  noble 
in  the  light  of  one  who  is  opposed  to  liis  class. 
The  German  middle-class  mind,  ever  suspicious  and 
critical,  would  refuse  to  believe  in  an  aristocrat, 
^s  such,  who  had  not  broken  with  his  traditions  and 
cast  in  his  lot  with  the  enemies  of  his  class !  This 
is  a  great  misfortune  for  the  aristocracy,  and  partly 
also  for  the  people,  as  it  robs  it  of  the  services  of 
many  noble-minded  men,  who  are  driven  to  consume 
their  high  aspirations  for  the  general  welfare  of  the 
community  in  inactivity,  knowing  they  are  not  able 
to  come  forth  except  to  excite  enmity,  without  any 
chance  of  doing  corresponding  good  work.  That 
such  is  the  case  is  largely  owing  to  the  short-sighted 
policy  of  the  German  aristocracy  as  a  class  from 
time  immemorial.  The  individual  exceptions  to 
such  policy  have  been  too  unimportant  to  be  worth 
recording.  The  German  nobility  has  held  to  the 
letter  of  its  privilege,  to  its  high-sounding  titles, 
to  its  Court  sinecures,  to  its  cheap  glamour,  to  its 
narrow-minded  customs  of  intermarrying,  and  in  so 
<loing  has  lost,  as  before  said,  the  substance  for 
the  shadow.  It  has  done  its  best  to  deepen  the 
ditch  between  itself  and  the  middle  classes,  and  by 
so  doing  has  arrayed  the  latter  among  its  envious 
<inemies.  For  he  who  says  ''  envy "  may  as  well 
say  "  enemy."  Tiie  truth  of  this  axiom  is  most 
clearly  proved  by  the  dying  out  of  the  French 
hatred  for  their  nobility ;  there  is  nothing  left  to 
•envy  since  they  have  shrunk  into   the  last  refuge 


l82 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


THE  ARISTOCRACY. 


183 


of  good  manners  and  chivalrous  feeling.  Such 
qualities  are  not  striking  enough  to  produce  popular 
enmity. 

Let  us  hope  that  some  day  such  qualities  will 
awaken  universal  sympathy  and  respect  in  all 
countries,  and  produce  that  best  form  of  flattery,, 
when  the  flattered  are  worth  flattering — imita- 
tion. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  German  aristocracv 
has  ever  used  its  influence  to  ostracize  the  untitled,, 
not  only  from  its  own  society,  but  from  that  of  its. 
Sovereign.  And  the  smaller  the  State  the  more 
petty  and  pertinacious  have  ever  been  its  efforts  in 
that  direction.  And  the  poorer  its  representatives 
the  higher  the  value  they  have  ever  set  on  their 
fictitious  possessions  of  privilege. 

It  is  hardly  known  outside  of  the  Fatherland  that, 
with  the  exception  of  the  official  world,  only  the 
titled  are  privileged  to  be  received  at  Court.  And 
even  of  the  official  world  itself,  the  female  portion 
are  (])eneath  a  very  high  rank)  excluded  from  the 
privileges  often  only  temporarily  enjoyed  by  their 
husbands — a  striking^  contrast  to  our  social  condi- 
tions,  that  do  not  preclude  a  wealthy  shopkeeper 
escorting  his  "  lady  "  to  a  reception  at  the  Prime 
Minister's  house  if  he  be  lucky  enough  to  induce 
his  employes  to  vote  him  into  l^arliament.  But 
then  wealth  with  us  is  a  certain  passport  to  Parlia- 
ment, and  through  Parliament  into  society.  In 
Germany  neither  one  nor  the  other  is  the  case. 

Now,  though  many  may  opine,  and  in  Germany 
many  do  so,  that  the  importance  of  all  these  trivial 


distinctions  is  hardly  worth  mentioning,  we  beg  to 
be  allowed  to  hold  a  very  diflerent  opinion.  Ger- 
man merchants  and  men  of  culture  will  tell  you, "  We 
care  not  for  Court  life,  or  for  the  society  of  our 
aristocracy  ;  they  are  not  worth  having."  AVe  cannot 
share  this  opinion,  even  if  we  were  willing  to  believe 
that  it  were  always  honest,  and  did  not  now  and 
then  remind  us  of  the  fable  of   the   fox  and  the 


grapes 


The  German  Courts,  and  notably  the  aristocracy, 
are  still  the  repositories  of  social  tact  and  good 
manners,  and  it  is  a  great  disadvantage  to  the 
untitled  cultured  to  be  cut  off"  from  a  free  and 
unrestrained  intercourse  with  such  elements.  If  it 
does  nothing  else  it  keeps  class  jealousy  and  envy 
alive.  But  it  does  more  than  that ;  it  indirectly 
influences  the  excluded  in  many  other  ways  than 
they  might  be  prepared  to  admit— there  are  cer- 
tain things  peoi^le  are  so  unwilling  to  admit. 

VI. 

Can  it  be  doubted  that  if  the  social  influence  of 
the  great  historic^  German  houses — for  they  include 
many  splendid  names,  though  the  acres  they  possess 
are  rarely  as  broad  and  as  fat  as  our  own — could  be 
brought  more  directly  to  bear  by  more  easy  inter- 
course on  the  cultured  untitled,  it  would  beneficially 
influence  them  mutually  ?  Such  an  initiative  would 
open  up  to  the  German  nobility  the  full  wealth  of 
intellectual  power  and  healthy  vitality  that  is  innate 
in    the    great    German  pco]>lc.      Such  intercourse 


i84 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


THE  ARISTOCRACY, 


185 


would  broaden  the  views  of  many  persons  in  high 
positions  in  Germany,  and  it  would  gradually  help 
the  German  people  to  a  more  generous  appreciation 
of  the  many  excellent  traits  of  character  often 
hidden  away  in  old  crumbling  chateaux  or  devoted 
only  to  useless  Court  routine  or  sport. 

To  know  is  often  to  love,  as  ignorance  is  only 
too  often  the  parent  of  liatred  as  well  as  of  vice. 
A  new  departure  in  this  direction  would  strengthen 
those  excellent  feelings  of  solidarity  with  all  the 
"ood  in  human  nature  that  underlies  much   of  the 

o 

less  amiable  outward  German  characteristics.  A 
greater  rapijrocliemcnt  between  the  aristocracy  (and 
through  it  with  royalty)  and  the  middle  classes 
would  be  a  new  element  of  strength  in  the  common 
battle  to  be  waged  against  the  subversive  elements 
that  are  gradually  coming  to  the  fore  in  all  Euro- 
pean countries.  Germany  was  the  starting-point  of 
the  spiritual  re-birth  in  the  Reformation.  Germany 
is  in  the  centre  of  Europe,  and  standing  there  must 
be  the  centre  of  support  to  retain  all  that  is  wortli 
retaining  from  countless  generations  of  effort  and 
strife. 

But,  besides  this  more  serious  aspect,  there  are 
minor  points  to  be  considered  that  alone  are  well 
worth  our  wishing  the  barriers  between  the  aris- 
tocracy and  the  middle  classes  might  be  somewhat 
removed.  German  manners  in  general  would  greatly 
improve  thereby.  That  everlasting  feeling  of  anxiety 
as  to  our  position  is  death  to  ease  of  manner,  and 
not  a  little  accountable  for  much  petty  unhappi- 
ness. 


Removing  the  class  barrier  would  facilitate  inter- 
marrying, and  would  tend  to  make  commercial  men 
look  at  aristocratic  officers  less  as  drones  who  can 
only  marry  for  money.  Itich  commoners  might 
marry  aristocrats — a  rare  case  now,  when  thou- 
sands of  penniless  titled  old  maids  are  doomed  to 
celibacy,  and  often  eke  out  their  sad  existence  in 
those  mediaeval  institutions  we  find  all  over  Ger- 
ji-iany — homes  for  old  maids  of  noble  birth.  The 
•daughters  of  the  poor  aristocracy  are  sadly  handi- 
capped in  the  competition  for  husbands.  For  the 
^accomplished  daughters  of  the  supposed  wealthy 
foreigners,  the  many  comely  English  and  American 
girls  that  swarm  on  the  Continent,  often  prove  too 
tempting  to  the  poor  (merman  baron,  and  make  him 
oblivious  to  their  want  of  the  magic  prefix  of  "  von  " 
to  their  names. 

VII. 

Some  of  the  manifestations  of  aristocratic  class 
pride  would  be  most  amusing  if  they  were  not  so 
unfortunate  in  their  results.  It  is  not  so  long  ago 
that  at  Hanoverian  watering-place  dances  a  line 
was  drawn  between  the  nobility  and  the  untitled  I 
At  a  little  Mecklenburgh  watering-place  like  Hei- 
ligenbad  a  commoner  was  looked  upon  as  next  door 
to  a  culprit.  And  even  nearer  the  large  German 
towns,  at  public  dances  a  marked  division  between 
the  classes  can  still  be  easily  noticed,  as  the  fore- 
going will  lead  the  reader  to  suppose.  However, 
these  lamentable  traits  are  only  to  be  met  with 
dn  the    feudal  North.       Elsewhere,  particularly  in 


1 86 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


THE  ARISTOCRACY. 


187 


the  democratic  South,  thev  would  not  be  tolerated. 
And,  even  in  the  North  there  are  many  influences 
at  work  tending  to  lessen  class  prejudice.  They 
die  hardest  in  the  out-of-the-way  capitals  of  some 
of  the  petty  j^rincipalities,  where  national  life  pul- 
sates too  slowly  to  kick  the  beam  of  nonsense  out 
of  sight. 

The  late  Emperor  Frederick  retained  in  middle 
age  the  pure  romantic  idealism  of  early  youth.  To 
him  every  form  of  privilege  and  undeserved  favour 
was  an  abhorrence.  He  now  and  then  even  seemed 
to  go  out  of  his  way  to  honour  the  untitled.  For 
instance,  his  friend  and  aide-de-camp,  General 
Mischke,  was  not  of  noble  birth.  This  trait  of  the 
Emperor's  character  was  one  of  the  reasons  of  his 
great  popularity  with  the  intellectual  classes. 

Count  Alfred  Adelmann,  a  talented  writer  and 
a  personal  friend  of  the  present  Emperor,  has  long 
broken  lances  for  the  untitled  citizen  classes  and  their 
excellent  qualities.  He  tells  the  aristocracy  that  it 
must  either  work  like  the  rest  or  g:o  to  the  wall. 
To  its  honour,  it  must  be  said,  ihat  there  are  many 
more  among  the  nobility  who  think  likewise. 

A  very  amusing  and,  what  is  more,  an  authentic 
instance  of  class  pride,  is  worth  recording.  It  is 
instructive  as  showing  how  the  most  vicious  (qualities 
of  a  class  are  always  to  be  found  in  its  j^9an"<'?n^5. 

A  great  Berlin  banker,  who  had  been  ennobled^ 
and  whose  son  was  serving  in  the  army,  had  invited 
the  officers  of  his  son's  reo:iment  to  dinner.  Duriu^ 
the  dinner  the  colonel  noticed  that  all  the  otticers 
of  the  regiment  were  present  except  one  who  was 


not  in  possession  of  the  magical  noble  prefix  of  "  von '' 
to  his  name.  Asking  his  host  why  the  officer  in 
question  was  not  present,  the  banker  replied  with  a 
smile,  "I  intended  that  we  should  be  entirely  cntrc 
owns!"  Whereupon,  at  a  signal  from  the  colonel, 
all  the  officers  rose  and  left  the  house. 

It  seems  a  pity  that  such  sentiments  do  not  always 
meet  with  a  like  prompt  rebuke.      Still,  we  must 
say,  from  wide  personal   observation,  that,  notwith- 
standing the  German  popular   prejudice  about  the 
army  being  tlie  hot-bed  of  aristocratic  class  feeling, 
it  is  precisely  among  German  officers  that  the  more 
absurd  prejudices  are  rebuked  and  often  ludicrously 
exposed.      It  is  true  there  are  certain  regiments  the 
officers  of  which  are  almost  exclusively  drawn  from 
the  nobility,  but  beyond  that  it  would  be  the  greatest 
mistake  to  suppose  that  a  title  forms  a  passport  to 
advancement  and  positions  of  responsibility  in  the 
German  army  ;  nothing    of   the   sort.      The   powers 
that  be  wink    at   and   even   encourage   a   harmless 
class    feeling    among    officers  as  far  as   it   can   be 
done  without  harm  to  the  institution  itself.     And 
if  it  maketh  the  noble's  heart  glad  to  know  that  all 
his   brother-officers   belong   to    his    set,  surely   the 
German  military  aristocracy  has   earned  a  right  to 
such   small   concessions    of    sentiment.      But    there 
they   stop!     Once   class   privilege    might   interfere 
witli    the    effectiveness    of    the    huge    man-slaying 
machine,  once  the  sensitiveness  of  the  noble  born 
might  endanger  the  bones  of  a  Pomeranian  grenadier,, 
it  is  swept  away  like  cobwebs  from  the  corners  of 
a  looking-glass.     From  the  moment  responsibility  is 


1 88 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


attached  to  a  post,  class  privileges  count  for  nothing, 
and,  whetlier  in  the  army,  in  the  civil  service,  or  in 
any  other  walk  of  public  life,  untitled  merit  takes 
precedence  of  the  highest  birth. 

To  tlie  honour  of  the  German  aristocracy  be  it 
said,  poor  as  it  may  be  in  coin  of  the  realm,  stripped 
^s  it  may  be  of  territorial,  social,  or  political  in- 
fluence, it  stands  its  ground  in  the  army  as  well  as 
in  the  administrative  offices  of  the  State  with  an 
iron  sense  of  duty  and  with  a  high  average  of 
intellectual  power.  In  fact,  it  may  be  said  that 
the  conscientious  manner  in  which  the  German 
nobility  has  performed  its  duty  of  late  in  the  army 
has  served  more  than  anything  else  to  decrease  the 
envy  that  undoubtedly  is  still  felt  for  it  in  the 
Patherland. 

We  remember  meeting  a  grisly-haired  Count  of 
the  Holy  Eoman  Empire,  a  captain  in  a  Prussian 
foot  regiment — the  oldest  captain  in  tlie  army,  we 
were  told.  At  first  we  could  hardly  understand  a 
man  of  his  lineage — for  his  family  figured  in  the 
magic  "  Almanach  de  Gotha  " — being  only  a  captain 
at  his  age.  The  oldest  captain  in  the  army  !  What 
a  position  of  relegated  fitness  !  A  glance  at  the 
•expressionless  bullock's  eyes  and  five  minutes'  con- 
versation solved  the  enigma.  His  intellectual  gifts 
were  limited  to  the  leading  of  a  company,  and  there 
he  was,  leading  it.  How  apposite  and  fit,  how 
truly  Prussian !  That  one  little  instance  was  well 
calculated  to  supply  us  with  the  key  to  many  a 
Prussian  victory,  had  we  needed  one.  The  aristo- 
crats who  guide  Prussia's    destinies  are  not  in  the 


THE  ARISTOCRACY, 


189 


habit  of  giving  a  son  an  important  command  to 
soothe  the'^feelings  of  a  father  whom  they  feel  they 
cannot  again  entrust  with  high  office. 


YIII. 

A  class  peculiar  to  Germany  is  the  poor  aiis- 
tocracy,  for  a  large  percentage  of  the  German  nobility 
is  very  poor  indeed,  living  from  hand  to  mouth. 
Among  them  one  long  struggle  goes  on  to  uphold 
the  privileges  of  birth  against  the  power  of  money ; 
and  tradition  is  the  only  weapon  they  can  wield. 
Their  children  are  brought  up  in  the  Spartan  sim- 
plicity that  inculcates  self-denial  at  an  early  age. 
The  daughters  are  accustomed  to  give  way  to  the 
sons,  who  have  to  serve  in  the  army,  and  to  whose 
equipment  every  spare  mark  must  needs  be  devoted. 
Outward  appearances  alone  must  be  kept  up  at  all 

hazards. 

The  mother  is  the  head  of  the  family  here  more 
than  elsewhere.  She  it  is  who  nurtures  the  feel- 
ing of  pride  for  the  noble  descent  of  their  family. 
The  veneration  for  what  has  descended  from  bygone 
generations  is  excessive,  and  extends  to  the  merest 
Uifles.  An  ornament  has  no  value  if  it  can  be 
bought  at  a  jeweller's  shop,  whereas  the  most  in- 
significant bit  of  jewelry  is  a  treasure  if  it  has 
descended  from  a  great-grandmother. 

Yet  this  poor  aristocracy,  with  all  its  prejudices, 
has  done  a  lot  to  form  the  sterling  hardness  of  the 
German  character. 

Althouo-h  we  must  admire  the  many  good  points 


1 90 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


THE  ARISTOCRACY, 


191 


of  the  German  aristocracy,  we  cannot  help  think- 
ing their  position  and  prospects  as  a  class  to  be  any- 
thing but  enviable.  Whatever  their  merits  as  indi- 
viduals, as  a  class  they  are  only  too  likely  to  reap 
what  has  been  sown  by  their  forefathers.  The  more 
so  that  they  have  not  got  a  partisan,  a  worshipper, 
and  an  incense-burner  in  the  clergy,  as  in  England. 

With  us,  even  if  the  aristocracy  were  deprived 
to-morrow  of  the  popular  sympathies  it  enjoys,  it 
would  still  have  the  means  of  adding  to  its  power 
by  the  constant  addition  to  its  ranks  of  wealthy 
commoners,  and  by  our  extravagant  rewards  for  any 
services  it  may  render  to  the  State.  In  Germany 
both  these  sources  of  power  are  non-existent. 
Wealth  does  not  lead  to  ennoblement ;  and  services 
to  the  State,  in  whatever  capacity,  have  seldom 
been  extravagantly  rewarded.  The  case  of  Bis- 
marck is  unique ;  for  the  dotation  to  Moltke  and 
other  great  leaders  in  the  war  of  1870  were  all 
but  nominal  according  to  our  standard.  The  highest 
services  are  invariably  only  rewarded  by  the 
honorary  distinction  of  high  orders  and  the  per- 
sonal friendship  of  the  Sovereign,  which  accom- 
panies its  recipient  into  private  life  on  his  retire- 
ment on  a  frugal  pension.  The  consciousness  of 
having  done  his  duty  has  to  make  amends  for  the 
lack  of  opportunity  of  acquiring  worldly  riches. 

To-day,  the  greater  number  of  them  would,  but 
for  the  profession  of  arms,  be  absolutely  penniless, 
if  not  breadless.  For,  although  the  aristocracy 
largely  fills  the  higher  Government  civil  appoint- 
ments, their  number  is  limited,  and  the  pay  is  so 


little  at  the  start  that  only  those  can  enter  the 
service  who  have  something  to  fall  buck  upon. 

This  can  only  be  looked  upon  as  a  great  national 
misfortune,  and  the  more  to  be  deplored  when 
we  remember  the  services  the  poor  German  aristo- 
cracy has  rendered  to  the  State  as  its  military 
servants. 

We  are  almost  inclined  to  ask  ourselves,  Would 
German  unity  ever  have  come  about  had  it  not  been 
for  the  splendid  staff  of  aristocratic,  but  poor,  ofticers 
who  have  for  generations  devoted  their  lives  un- 
selfishly to  the  profession  of  arms  and  to  the  ser- 
vice of  the  State?  The  poor  German  aristocracy 
has  helped  nobly  towards  the  creation  of  a  powerful, 
united  Fatherland. 


(       192      ) 


GERMAN  SOCIETY. 


193 


III 


ilii 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

GEKMAN  SOCIETY. 

Le  commerce  des  honnetes  gens  ne  pent  subsister  sans  une* 
certaine  sorte  de  confiance ;  elle  doit  Stre  commune  entre  eux. 
II  faut  que  chacun  ait  un  air  de  surete  et  de  discretion  qui  ne 
donne  jamais  lieu  de  craindre  qu'on  puisse  rien  dire  par  impru- 
dence.— Larochefoucauld. 

I. 

German  society  in  its  wider  sense  is  a  prism  of 
many,  but  by  no  means  harmoniously  blended, 
colours.  In  few  countries  is  the  aristocracy  of  birth 
so  cut  off  in  social  life  from  some  of  the  best  intel- 
lect of  the  land.  Nowhere  is  intellect  found  so- 
largely  outside  the  circles  of  wealth  and  high  birth,, 
for  German  society  does  not  bow  to  talent  alone^ 
like  the  French.  This  distinct  social  feature  is  a 
result  from  within,  for  the  tendency  of  the  Prussian 
monarchy  of  late  has  been  to  recognize  and  raise  the 
purely  intellectual  elements  of  the  country  even 
more  than  is  done  in  England.  But,  whereas  with 
us  the  recognition  of  brains  is  invariably  followed 
by  the  social  acceptance  of  its  possessor's  family^ 
in  Germany  it  stops  short  of  the  womenkind. 

With  us  a  great  Professor  is   distinguished  by 
royalty,  and  the  aristocracy  follows  suit  (if  it  has  not 


preceded  the  recognition  of  royalty),  and  the  upper 
middle  classes  follow  in  its  wake,  receiving  and  visit- 
ing the  lion's  wife  and  family. 

In  Germany  this  is  far  different.  A  great  artist, 
a  man  of  letters,  an  eminent  man  of  science  may  be 
loaded  with  stars,  or  appointed  to  high  office ;  he 
will  be  readily  received  either  in  his  personal  or  in 
his  official  character,  but  the  aristocracy  will  not 
visit  him,  nor  will  the  nobility  visit  his  wife.  His 
wife  has  no  social  status.  She  is  not  "hoffiihif^" 
which  means  she  is  not  qualified  to  be  received  at 
Court,  the  test  of  social  position  in  Germany.  Even 
more,  should  she  be  of  noble  birth  herself,  and  pre- 
vious to  her  marriage  have  been  presented  to  her 
Sovereign,  she  forfeits  this  privilege  on  her  marriage 
with  a  commoner.  These  facts  may  seem  of  small 
importance  to  the  casual  observer,  and  yet  tliey  are 
accountable  for  much  that  is  peculiar  to  German 
society.  They  are  at  the  root  of,  and  partly  explain, 
the  inadequacy  of  woman's  social  status  in  Germany. 

In  England  undoubtedly,  too,  as  well  as  in  Prance 
and  America,  there  is  a  definite  line  drawn  between 
those  who  belong  to  and  those  who  are  outside  the 
narrower  pale  of  polite  society.  Still,  it  is  not  so 
patently  an  ai'bitrary  distinction  as  in  Germany. 
In  fact,  it  does  not  caiTy  with  it  the  sting  of  its 
injustice  and  its  irremovability;  for  in  the  above 
countries  there  are  few  individuals  who,  by  wealth 
and  a  sufficient  amount  of  tact,  or  by  tacking  the 
sails,  cannot  hope  to  enter  the  charmed  circle. 
Whereas  in  Germany  these  barriers  are  almost  irre- 
movable. 

0 


IIHil! 


ii 


I 


illiil 


I       * 


!    !    I 


I 


,94  IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 

It  is  not  the  mere  presentation  or  non-presentation 
at  Conrt  that  marks  the  difference.  Tlie  arbitrary 
exclnsion  of  many  of  the  most  cultured  women  in 
Germany  narrows  the  circle  of  their  social  life,  to 
which  they  naturally  attach  more  value  than  men, 
who  are  more  actively  engaged.  It  causes  them  to 
feel  a  kind  of  neglect,  which  produces  envy  and 
iealousy.  Thus  we  are  often  struck  in  such  circles 
by  a  tone  of  bitterness,  if  not  of  dislike,  when 
speaking  of  the  aristocracy  or  even  of  the  Crown. 

This  °  feeling  becomes  doubly  galling  when  the 
Germans  see  strangers  admitted  in  their  best  society 
who  have  neither  birth  nor  breeding  nor  brains  to 
recommend  them.  For  the  nicety  of  perception  of 
the  German  mind  is  often  wofully  at  fault  when 
dealing  with  foreign  elements. 

Insular  assurance  and  American  "  shoddy  "  force 
the  gates  of  the  minor  German  Courts— Yankee 
womankind,  whose  male  belongings  are  at  home,  per- 
haps cutting  up  pork-chops  in  Chicago  ;  or  a  green, 
awkward  Yankee  youth,  you  will  find  talking  to  a 
worthy  English  countess,  of  an  inquiring  mmd,  with 
his  hands  in  his  pockets !  The  jump  from  pork- 
chops  to  the  peerage  is  apt  to  unsettle  the  nerves. 

English  half-pay  military  or  naval  captains— a 
refuse'^of  the  militia  thrown  in— sometimes  with  a 
^rowing  family,  living  abroad  for  economy  on  a 
third-floor  flat  above  a  butcher's  shop,  go  to  Court 
and  have  been  known  to  answer  the  addresses  of 
royalty  a^rain  with  their  hands  in  their  pockets. 
.  A  shabby-genteel  coterie  of  middle-class  sweep- 
ings who  are  distantly  related  to  half  the  .peerage. 


GERMAN  SOCIETY^ 


19s 


and  let  you  know  it  in  and  out  of  season  ;  a 
poor,  seedy,  shunted  English  diplomatist  and 
his  "  good  lady "  ablaze  with  a  Primrose  League 
' "  jewel,"  and  with  the  face  of  a  cook  in  front  of  a 
Christmas  joint — these  are  a  few  specimens  of  the 
foreign  element  in  German  society.  For  if  refined 
natures  are  rare  in  any  country,  they  are  rarer  still 
among  the  travelling  representatives  of  a  nation. 

But  such  are  the  elements  that  push  their  way 
in  their  own  country,  and,  being  "  hofiahig  "  at  home, 
can  legally  claim  presentation  abroad.  Thus  it  is 
the  fault  of  the  Germans  themselves  if  they  make 
much  of  foreigners  in  society  ;  why  don't  they  make 
more  of  themselves  ?  For,  as  long  as  they  exclude 
the  untitled,  an  English,  French,  or  American  com- 
moner, who  at  home  has  no  barrier  but  the  limits 
of  his  bare- faced  self-assertion,  will  be  rightly  ac- 
cepted in  German  society,  for  he  has  the  requisite 
standing  in  his  own  country. 

This  can  only  be  remedied  in  Germany  when  the 
intellectual  classes  ia  possession  of  means  come 
more  to  the  front.  Unfortunately,  present  circum- 
stances are  little  calculated  to  fit  their  womankind 
•for  an  enlarged  scope  of  social  duties. 

II. 

Other  social  results  can  also  be  traced  indirectly 
to  this  artificial  barrier  erected  between  the  profes- 
sional, scientific,  and  wealthy  commercial  classes  on 
the  one  side  and  the  nobility  and  royalty  on  the 
other. 

0  2 


mesmf*i?mmmtmtilgmmfmMmmiii>i*^^ 


196 


mFERIAL  GERMANY. 


GERMAN  SOCIETY, 


«97 


i 


•i|! 


The  German  aristocracy  is  limited  to  the  intel- 
lectual lite  to  be  found  ^vithin   its   circle,  which  is 
sli-htly  sporadic.     This  state  of  things  is  disadvan- 
tageous  to    the   aristocracy,   besides   narrowing  its 
popularity,  as   shown  elsewhere.     The   intellectual 
and  wealthy  classes  are  debarred  from  that  contact 
with  a  certain  urbanity  and  graciousness  of  manner, 
a  deference  to  women,  which  still,  whatever  may  be 
said  to  the  contrary,  is  a  marked  characteristic  o 
the  best  German  nobility.     It  is  true  the  excluded 
classes  do  their  utmost  to  adopt  aristocratic  manners, 
but  like   all  imperfect   imitations  they  lack  tinisli, 
and  are  liable  to  be  over-done.     This  applies  espe- 
cially to  the  womankind. 

The  universities,  the   army,  the  pitblic  services 
are  open  to  all  classes  alike,  and  there  all  Germans 
crain  a  certain  cosmopolitanism  of  views  and  manner 
which  if  it  now  and  then  falls  short  of  a  standard 
that  can  only  be  attained  in  a  highly  refined  family 
circle    yet    compares    fairly   with   that    of    similar 
classes  in  other  countries.     The  German  women  of 
the  middle  classes,  on  the  other   hand,  show  tiie 
painful  results  of  their   social  restriction  in  more 
ways  than   one.     The   feeling   of  their  derogatory 
position  begets,  as  aforesaid— though  it  be  never  so 
much  denied— a  latent  feeling  of  envy  and  jealousy, 
which  shows  itself  in  excessive  sensitiveness,      ihis 
a^ain,  in   its   turn,  is  the  ever-recurring   cause  ot 
exaggeration  of   manner  and  want   of  tact.     Thus 
intercourse    with    the   middle  classes   is   far  more 
dmdlc  than  with  the  aristocracy.     Their  manners 
are  exaggerated  in  their  punctiliousness  and  exaetion. 


iind  you  can  innocently  tread  on  toes  whilst  you 
fancy  that  you  are  gaining  golden  opinions. 

The  middle  classes  are  often  exaoi^erated  in  their 
sensitiveness,  and,  besides  that,  are  grievously  given 
to  ill-natured  small-talk.  Hyper-sensitiveness  is 
one  cardinal  characteristic  of  German  society,  as  it 
is  a  marked  one  of  CJerman  character  generally, 
which  a  broader  and  more  cosmopolitan  horizon  of 
nsocial  life  could  not  fail  to  diminish,  if  not  entirely 
to  banish. 

To  these  facts  may  also  be  traced  that  want  of 
prestige  in  society  which  marks  German  women  of 
the  untitled  classes.  A  contact  with  the  liiGfhest 
society  would  soon  show  German  women  the  con- 
sideration wdiich  their  titled  sisters  enjoy,  and  which 
they  would  not  be  slow  to  strive  for.  AVhether 
they  would  find  the  sterner  sex  ready  to  render  it, 
or  whether  they  would  be  able  to  wield  the  weapons 
that  secure  it,  is  another  matter.  The  fact  remains 
that,  however  well  educated  middle-class  German 
women  may  be,  they  generally  suffer  from  a 
pettiness  of  feeling  and  thought  which  is  not  cal- 
oulated  to  make  their  lords  bow  down  to  them 
amidst  the  wear  und  tear  of  every-day  life.  And 
the  proof  of  this  is,  that  they  do  jiot  succeed  in 
being  treated  with  that  deference  and  regard  in 
private  life  that  ladies  invariably  meet  with  in  the 
iJerman  aristocracy,  as  well  as  in  the  educated 
society  of  England,  France,  and  America. 

.Holding,  as  we  do,  that  women  should  be  the 
<lepositories  of  all  that  goes  to  nuike  up  and  regu- 
late the  smaller  amenities  of  social  life,  we  cannot 


!!<! 


198 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


GERMAN  SOCIETY, 


199 


l!i:lli 


but  deplore  that  the  influence  of  some  of  the  best 
German  women  is,  in  tliat  respect,  very  restricted 

and  limited. 

Average  Germans  have  a  tendency  to  give  way 
to  their  temper  in  dealing  with  tlie  ladies  of  their 
family  which  can  only  surprise  those  to  whom  it  is 
a  novelty.     The  countrymen  of  Schopenhauer  do  not 
often  err  on  the  side  of  too  much  consideration  for 
the  fair  sex  jper  sc.    If  a  person  is  unpopular,  it  seems 
only  to  add  bitterness  to  that  hatred  if  that  person  be 
a  woman.    Some  journalistic  attacks  on  the  Empress 
Frederick  bear  testimony  to  this.     They  evidently 
think  they  are  in  the  right,  but  they  do  not  seem  to- 
incline  to  be  generous.     It  is  indeed  sad  to  note  that 
slander,  with  regard  to  women,  is  easily  set  in  motion 
and  very  prevalent  in  Germany.     In  fact,  it  reflects- 
by  no  means  a  "  nice  "  side  of  the  national  character.. 
The  wide  prevalence  of  the  custom  of  spending 
daily  hours  and  hours  in  beerhouses  is  not  without 
its  consequences  in  rougliening  the  manners,  par- 
ticularly towards   ladies,  and  encouraging  the  love 
of  small-talk  and  gossip.      It  is   not  that  (Jermans 
are  not  scrupulously  polite  in  outward  form  towards 
ladies ;  it  is  in  the  intimacy  of  every-day  life  that 
they  cast  off  too  often  those  necessary  little  egards 
that  mean  so  much. 

Among  other  disadvantages,  we  think  the  beer- 
house tends  to  foster  a  forgetfulness  that  honour- 
able old  age  is  also  a  patent  of  nobility  to  be 
honoured.  And  as  a  straw  is  sufficient  to  show 
the  direction  of  the  wind,  it  may  be  noted  that 
smoking  is  indulged  in  in  the  presence  of  ladies  to. 


a  degree  that  is  hardly  consistent  with  scrupulous 
re<Tard  for  the  fair  sex.  Even  hard  smokers  will 
admit  that  the  capacity  of  self-denial  in  this  re- 
spect can  now  and  then  be  legitimately  called  for. 
The  average  German  hardly  ever  stops  to  think  of 
self-denial  in  such  matters.  Custom  has  made  him 
essentially  egotistical  in  the  trifles  of  every-day  life 
and  a  healthy  female  influence  is  not  yet  apparent 
to  check  him. 

Fault-finding  may  be  a  thankless  task,  but  those 
who  feel  they  are  not  blind  to  their  own  country's 
shortcomings  may  claim  some  excuse  for  dwelling  on 
those  of  others.  But  if  our  national  reputation  on 
the  score  of  social  manners  hardly  x^laces  us  on  an 
undisputed  point  of  vantage  to  decry  others,  we 
may  quote  the  opinion  of  a  Frenchman*  who  has 
shown  a  rare  appreciation  of  Germany  : 

"The  German — unless  belonging  to  the  ideal 
race  of  great  poets  and  thinkers — hardly  knows  the 
exquisite  refinement  of  manner,  the  delicacy  of 
I)ointed  irony.  When  his  heavy  temperament  enters 
nito  a  discussion,  strong  words  accompany  his  argu- 
ments, and  they  fall  fast  like  heavy  paving- 
stones Even  genius  does  not  always  preserve 

them  from  these  excesses,  and  three  centuries  of 
culture  have  not  deprived  the  strong  '  table  talk '  of 
a  Luther  of  its  freshness  and  classic ity  1  " 

Farther  on : 

"  The  Germans,  proud  of  their  strength,  show  no 


*  **  Les   Allemands." 
L6vy.    1884. 


Par  le  Pfere  Didon.      Paris :  Calmann 


20O 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


GERMAN  SOCIETY. 


20I 


i   li'li'! 


iii 


Iflf 


il 


sign  of  senility  in  their  national  life.  Their  failings 
rather  tell  of  Larbarisni  than  of  decrepitude ;  they 
offer  a  strange  mixture  of  primitive  coarseness  and 
of  civilization.  The  barbaric  is  in  the  blood,  the 
superior  and  civilized  nature  is  due  to  educa- 
tion." 

A  Frenchman  may  perhaps  be  more  justified  in 
using  such  strong  language  than  one  of  ourselves, 
for  the  Latin  races,  withal,  still  retain  a  grace  of 
manner,  even  in  the  humblest  sphere,  to  which  the 
Teuton  as  well  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  may  w^ell 
aspire  in  vain.  Still,  the  subject  of  manners  is  a 
peculiar  one.  Much  that  is  uncongenial  to  us  in 
the  manners  of  another  people  ceases  to  be  so  when 
we  set  to  live  amoncj  them  and  understand  their 
ways  and  methods.  Some  of  our  own  insular  pecu- 
liarities, usually  put  down  to  want  of  consideration 
for  others,  are  as  often  as  not  the  result  of  a  certain 
fihyness  which,  once  understood,  generally  reveals  be- 
neath the  surface  a  far  greater  cordiality  of  feeling 
than  that  underlying  continental  scraping  and  hat- 
lifting.  So,  also,  beneath  the  somewhat  rough 
outward  manner  of  the  ]N"orth  German  tliere  is 
often  far  more  fairness,  if  not  generosity  of  senti- 
ment, than  is  to  be  found  among  more  readily 
"*  taking  "  nationalities. 

Downriglit  vulgarity  is  not  often  met  with  in 
Germany,  but,  when  it  is,  it  is  far  worse  than  in 
England.  It  is  more  often  allied  to  intense  sensi- 
tiveness  combined  witli  aggressive  arrogance  and 
''  Itechthaberei  " — tlie  mental  disease  of  feeling  and 
asserting   yourself   to    be  always  in  the  right.     In 


England  even  the  vulgar  feel  a  certain  nervousness, 
<nnd  are  cowed  before  birth  and  position :  it  is  not 
so  in  Germany. 

This  brings  us  to  tlie  consideration  of  a  German 
institution  wliich,  if  not  conspicuous  for  vulgarity,  is 

not  without  a  taint  of  barbarism duellino-  f 

It  is  nurtured  at  the  university,  and  is  customary 
in  all  grades  of  Cierman  life,  except  the  humble 
classes.  Since  the  '70  war  it  has  perhaps  been  on 
the  increase,  and,  only  tlie  otlier  day,  two  sclioolboys, 
of  the  respective  ages  of  sixteen  and  thirttjen,  were 
had  up  before  the  court  of  justice  in  Stuttgart* 
for  fighting  a  most  determined  duel  a  outrcum^^^iWx 
pistols.      They  were  both  dangerously  wounded. 

What  can  be  said  against  duelling  has  l)een 
forcibly  put  by  Schopenhauer  in  his  essay  on  the 
meaning  of  "honour,"  and  his  arguments  are 
unanswerable— among  them,  that  nations  of  sucli 
admitted  virility  as  the  Swedes,  the  English,  and 
the  Americans  (now  also  the  Russians)  do  with- 
out it. 

That  the  "  touchiness  "  of  the  ( Jerman  character 
encourages  duelling  is  certain ;  also  that  the  uni- 
versity authorities  look  upon  it  as  a  necessary  means 
of  inculcating  a  certain  manliness.  In  this  case 
<Jerman  youth  certainly  stands  at  a  disadvantage 
compared  to  the  youth  of  those  nations  which 
possess  manliness  without  it. 

Then,  again,  it  is  asserted  by  military  authorities 
that  duelling  is  necessary  to   tlie  discipline  of  the 

*  July  28,  1 888. 


11 


iiiiS: 


202  IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

army      If   such  be  the   sad   truth,  it  must  he  ad- 
Sd  that  :t  is  not  allowed   to   ^^egene-  e  J^^^^ 

huHying;  it.  ^^^T^^^ 
limits,  for    no    otticer    is    aUo^^ea  to  n^i 
.vitho^t   previously   asking    the  permission  of     he 
Council   of  Honour  of   his  regiment,  and   an    in 
prtdpled  duellist  .-ould  soon,  like  Othello,  tmd  lus 

occupation  gone. 

But  ^vhich  ever  way  ^ve  look  upon  it.  t  seems 
a  pity  that  this  barbarous  custom  should  exist 
prettily  --^trained,  and  be  ans.-erable  fo^cb 
Lrovv  and  ^vrong  in  the  country  during  theyeau 

For  German  duels  (except  those  at  the  -^--^^^^  ,>  > 

are  anything  but  child's  play.     The  middle-aged  p  o- 
sioiial  m^n.  at  the  slightest  insult,  remembers  his 

university  days,  and  is  ready  to  meet  the  fieicest 

military  tire-eater  with  sword  or  pistol. 

III. 

Leaving  duelling  out  of  the  question,  the  above 
strictures  must,  of  course,  not  receive  acceptance 
tiUiout  a  due  reservation  and  allowance  to  be  made 
Except  duelling,  they  hardly  apply  f  f  *°  ^^ 
best  society  of  the  wealthier  cities  of  the  Lmpirc, 
besides  the  former  free  towns  of  Hamburg.  Bremen 

Frankfort-on-the-Main.    &e.       There    we    fiiid     1 . 

patrician  burgher  supreme,   and  with  him  all  the 

peculiarities  of  his  supremacy. 

The  days  when  the  good  Franktorters  used  to  speak 

French  in  their  social  S-*erings  are  passed  away  , 

also  the  ambition  of  the  ^cuncmc  doree  of  Hambur^, 


GERMAN  SOCIETY. 


205 


and  Bremen  to  pass  itself  off  as  English  has  under- 
gone a  slight  transition. 

Nowadays  the  commerce-gorged  types  of  Frank- 
fort sun  their  dull  features  in  the  blaze  of  stars  and 
ribbons  earned  in  tlie  dust  and  glare  of  battle,  and 
feel  themselves  belonging  to  a  great  militaiy  nation 
against  the  creation  of  which  they  literally  raved 
and  whined. 

The  social  status  of  tlie  well-educated  and  wealthy 
commoner  in  tlie  above-mentioned  towns,  to  which 
a  few  others  might  be  added,  is  a  far  liigher  one 
than  where  he  is  over-sliadowed  and  left  in  the 
cold  by  a  C-ourt  and  its  niilitarv  surroundincs.  In 
capitals  such  as  IJreeden  and  Stuttgart  it  is  com- 
paratively rare  to  see  a  civilian  in  the  best  society. 
Everywhere  glittering  uniforms  ;  sets  that  are  patron- 
ized l)y  the  tliic  of  cavalry  regiments  ;  others,  more 
humble,  that  are  content  with  the  infantry,  who 
hardly  ever  congregate  socially.  Official  bails,  where 
the  subaltern  and  the  minor  civil  official  have  to 
dance  with  the  gawky  daughters  of  their  superiors  till 
they  are  black  in  the  face.  Here  the  male  element 
reigns  supreme,  but  in  the  above-mentioned  towns 
the  fair  sex  exercises  a  controlling  social  influence, 
although  it  has  not  always  been  emj^loyed  as  well  as 
it  might  have  been.  Still,  anybody  who  has  mixed 
in  the  best  society  of  these  towns  cannot  have 
failed  to  notice  the  well-bred  ease  of  manner  of  the 
ladies  and  their  high  culture.  With  the  possession 
of  money  there  has  grown  a  cultivation  of  the  fine 
arts  and  a  great  difiusion  of  the  social  amenities  of 
life  generally.      These  towns  mostly  possess  a  patri- 


;a.is^^giWfc.wpri|jjq| 


iiMI':!." 


m 


lit* 


204  IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 

arclial  oligarchy  consisting  of  the  wealthiest  families, 
some  of  them  with  a  liistory  reaching  back  many 
crenerations.      There  is  less  distinction  to  he  found 
between  the  titled  and  the  commoner,  and  yet  the 
petty  spirit  of  cliques  that  is  peculiar  to  social  life  m 
Germany  shows  itself  even  there,  though  in  a  special 
form      For  the  wealthy  merchant-citizen  has  a  class 
pride  of  his  own,  which  is  not  always  justified  by 
the  small    attention    he    pays    to    externals.     We 
remember  a  charming  young  man  who  haded  horn 
Leipsic  ;  he  would  persist  in  showuig  a  set  of  grinders 
as  green  as  the  copper  hull  of  an  ocean  steamer. 
In  everything  else  he  was  the  essence  of  punctilio  1 
The  wealthy  citizen  is  deferential  to  his  woman- 
kind which  has  a  knack  of  exacting  deference.      Ihit 
he  has  often  a  bumptious  hauteur  and  purse  pride 
which  put  to  shame  the  pride  of  birth  of  the  noble 
with  sixty-four  quarterings.      A  class  that  with  us 
is  often  known  for  its  toadying  to  the  aristocracy 
now  and  then  shows  bloated  arrogance  in  Germany. 
The   wealthy   consul— here    and   there   a    generous 
patron  of  the  fine  arts,  and  combining  the  culture  of 
intellect  with  the  manners  of  good  society— is  often 
an  arrogant  type  of  hard-headed  counting-house  life. 
Never  so  uneducated    as  some   of    our  City  mag- 
nates, he  is  more  arrogant  and  offensive.      This  arro- 
gance is  too  often  the  veil  under  which  he  tries  to 
hide  his  conscious  social  inferiority  to  the  noble  of 

the  capitah  .  . 

Although  the  wealthy  Frankforter  patrician  will 
oive  you  to  understand  that  he  is  the  equal  of  any 
Count  of  the  Holy  lioman  Empire,  he  is   yet  con- 


GERMAN  SOCIETV. 


20: 


scious  that  lie  is  only  their  equal  in  his  own  imagina- 
tion as  long  as  he  is  within  the  fuur  walls  of  his 
beloved  father-town.      He  has  a  distinct  knowledge 
that  though    his    daughters   may  receive    the   best 
society  at   home,  they  have  only  to  marry  a  com- 
moner in  Berlin  or  Dresden  or  Munich  in  order  to 
lose  their  social  feathers  and  to  be  quietly  rele<^ated 
to  a  place  outside  the  select  circle.      Thus  the  con- 
sciousness of  his  greatness  is  a  very  imperfect  one, 
and,  as  such,  shows  all  the  drawbacks  that  imperfect 
convictions  are  apt  to  develop  in  the  human  heart. 
After  all,  the  good  CJerman  patrician   town-folk  are 
only  human,  and,  as  such,  but  the  creatures  of  the 
petty  character  of  their  existence. 

Berlin  is  the  one  town  in  the  Empire  where  un- 
titled intellect  has  from  time  to  time  held  a  distinct 
and  recognized  social  position,  and,  hand  in  hand  with 
rarely  cultured  women,  exercised  a  distinctly  bene- 
ficial social,  if  not  even  a  political,  influence.  The 
intellectual  society  between  the  years  1830  and  60 
in  Berhn  wielded  more  than  local  influence.  Men 
such  as  Prince  Buckler,  Varnhagen  von  Ense,  the 
Mendelssohns,  Lassalle,  and  women  such  as  Eahel 
Levin  and  others,  left  their  stamp  on  the  thought  of 
their  time.  They  inspired  as  well  as  entertained. 
Their  fare  was  of  Spartan  simplicity,  invariably  only 
tea  and  small  cakes,  and  yet  in  their  hands  society 
offered  the  only  analogy  to  a  French  salon  (a  la  Ma- 
dame Becamier  or,  in  our  days,  a  la  Madame 
Mold)  that  has  ever  been  realized  in  Germany. 
If  these  ideal  conditions  no  longer  exist,  on  the 
other   hand  some   advantages    remain    to  German 


\  •  ■ 


'l 


lll'lil' 


206  IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

cosmopolitan  socLety  tliat  are  worth  noting.  If,  for 
example,  you  meet  a  man  of  note  or  exceptional 
position,  you  have  not  to  run  the  gauntlet  o  a 
crowd  of  middle-class  nobodies-to  steer  through  a 
miasmic  atmosphere  of  sycophancy-in  order  to  get 
at  him  The  German  middle  classes  have  not  yet 
token  to  lion-hunting  and  its  vulgarizing  accessories. 

IV. 

In  Berlin  to-day  the  Duke  of  Eatihor  unites  the 
mte  of  intellect  and  science  under  his  hospitable 
roof  Countess  Schleinitz  up  till  lately  was  a  magnet 
that  attracted  and  retained  all  that  is  eminent  in 
the  musical  world.  Postmaster  Dr.  Stephan  receives 
the  aitc  of  Berlin  society,  as  also  do  from  time  to 
time  all  the  other  Ministers.  Trince  Bismarck  s 
receptions  are,  of  course,  familiar  to  the  worhl  at 

Professor    Helmlioltz    occupies     an     exceptional 
position,   and  in  his   home    he  is  the  centre  of  a 
circle  which  in  the  world  of  science  could  perhaps 
hardly  he  equalled  for  brilliancy  outside  the   walls 
of  raris.     Likewise  the  family  of  IMcndclssohn  has 
for  venerations  past  taken  up  a  liigh  social  position 
in  Berlin.     From  the  witty  contemporary  of  Ired- 
erick   the  Great  downwards,  this  family  has   pro- 
duced a  succession  of  cultivated  men  and  women 
To-day  the  Mendelssohns  are  a  centre  of  polite  and 
intellectual  society  in  Berlin. 

The  weahhy  plutocracy,  here  as  elsewhere,  cul- 
tivate  the  aristocracy  (^f  intellect  and  of  the   fine 


GERMAN  SOCIETY. 


207 


^a 


arts    as    a   fashion,   some    vain    vision    of    French 
mlom  of  past  days  seemingly  being  the  ideal  they 
liopelessly  strive  to  imitate.     ]]esides  the  above,  the 
wives  of  one  or  two  celebrities  of  the  world  of  letters 
hold   receptions    which  partake    of  a   cosmopolitan 
character.      They    endeavour  to  weld  or  fuse  into  a 
homogeneous  social  stratum  the  many  characteristic 
elements  Berlin  society  is  composed   of.      The   ex- 
periment is  said  to  be   fairly    successful,   but    those 
who  are    best   acquainted   with  them   aver  that  a 
touch    of  Bohemianism  pervades    the   whole :    an 
<3xaggeration  of  stilted  forms  in  some,  Hanked  bv  a 
somewhat  boisterous  abandon  in  others — the  whole 
producing  the  impression  of  a  spasmodic  experiment 
that  is  not  indigenous  to  the  soil.     For  behind  all 
these  Berlin  efforts  at  social  intermingling  stalks  the 
proud  typical  figure  of  Lieutenant  v.    Strudelwitz, 
who  would  be  horrified  if  a  celebrated  musician  or  a 
literary  magnate  was  seen  in  his  house.     To  such  as 
he — and  he  represents  a  distinct  class — a  man  like 
Count    Hochberg    (brother  of  the  wealthy   Prince 
riess)   has   soiled   his   escutcheon  in  accepting  the 
superintendence    .of    the    various    royal    theatres, 
although  by  so    doing    Count    Hochberg    is    in    a 
position  to  influence  the  taste   and   culture   of  the 
public  in  as  marked  a  manner  as   any   six   literary 
stars  combined. 

Lieut.  V.  Strudelwitz  is  a  type  whose  ancestral 
leanings  may  be  traced  in  the  direction  of  Meck- 
lenburg, in  that  favoured  duchy  wJiere,  up  till 
recently,  a  mild  form  of  the  cat,  made  of  a  good 
solid  stick,  now   and   then  reminded  the  humbler 


ii 


"-""'i^^mmmmmm 


208 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


GERMAN  SOCIETY. 


209 


i 


m 


mm 


m 


inhabitants  of  the  blessings  of  a  patriarchal  state  of 
things.     For  there  are  even  now  authorities  to  be 
founTl  who  strenuously  aver  that  the  stick  is   not 
half  so  debasing  as  some  of  our  more  civilized  forms 
of  punishment.      Lieut,  v.  Strudelwitz's  social  ambi- 
tion is  the  membership  of  the  most  exclusive  club 
of  the  capital,  the  "  Union,"  where  gambling  used 
to  be  indulged  in  by  otticers  until  young  Prince 
William.,  now  German  Emperor,  one  day   put  his 
foot  down  in  plain  terms  of  prohibition.     We  should 
be  justified  in  considering  Lieut,  v.  Strudelwitz  as 
a  pure,  unadulterated  embodiment  of  the  theory  of 
the  divine  origin  of  the  aristocracy  fcr  sc  if  it  were 
not  for  a  suspicious  hankering  after  the  flesh-pots 
which  he  now  and  then  shows  by  his  unbounded 
admiration    for    English    wealth.       Not    only    the 
splendours  of  England's   ancestral  homes  fascinate 
his  imagination — that  would  be  consistent ;  but  the 
more    tawdry   splendour   of   four-in-hand   clubs,  of 
Eotten  Eow,  with  its  fair  and  sometimes  frail  eques- 
trians—these occupy  his  mind  and  make  him  some- 
times regret  that  his  proud  ancestors  were  not   a 
little  more  successful  in  hoarding  the  loaves  and 
fishes   of    this   world.       Now,    although    Lieut,    v. 
Strudelwitz  is  the  pink  of  politeness  and  worldly 
savoir  /aire,  he  must  not  be  confounded  with  another 
equally   polished  type    of    military  manhood,   who 
is  his  superior  in  everything  that  does  not  appertain 
to  boot-polish  and  gold-rimmed  eye-glasses. 

Captain  v.  K.  is  of  the  Alexander  Guard  Eegi- 
ment,  quartered  in  Berlin.  In  him  we  have  one  of 
the  finest  types  of  the  Prussian  officer.     He,  too,  is 


noble  by  birtli,  but  not  necessarily  narrow  in  brain 
and  sympathies  in  consequence.  If  he  admires 
England,  it  is  tlie  history  of  England's  greatness, 
the  Englisli  character  of  energy^  of  manliness,  that 
excites  his  admiration.  He  and  liis  like  invariably 
read,  if  not  speak,  English,  and  are  pleased  to  re- 
member that  it  was  a  Scotchman  whose  history  of 
Erederick  the  (Jrcat  is  the  standard  work  on'^his 
country's  greatest  king. 

^  Although  he  loves  his  profession,  which  he  con- 
siders one  that  ought  to  be  above  the  temptation  of 
money-making  and  petty  personal  ambition,  he  yet 
is  able  to  recognize  tlie  worth  and  honour  that  can 
be  sought  and  found  in  every  walk  of  life,  however 
humble.      If  you   refer   to   the   privileges  the  aris- 
tocracy possess  in  the  army,  he  will  tdl  you  it  is 
at  most  a  preference  they  enjoy,  which,  if  not  de- 
served   by    constant    and     unremitting    work    and 
attention,  only   goes    for  nothing.      He  admits  the 
prefix   of  "  von  "   does  sometimes  confer  a  prefer- 
ence, but  he  does  not  boast  of  it,  but  rather  seeks 
to  excuse  it  by  quoting  the  number  of  his  ancestors 
and   liis  relations,  who    from    time    to    time   have 
shared  the  darkest  days  of  Prussia's  eclipse  in  the 
service  of  the  State. 

Except  in  some  instances  of  self-asserting  pluto- 
cracy, Cierman  society  presents  one  particular  nega- 
tive advantage.  It  is  comparatively  free  from  that 
restless  vulgar  cadging  ("  Streberthum ")  to  be  found 
in  some  countries. 

The  toady,  the  tuft-hunter,  the  vulgar  pushing 
matron,    if    not    unrepresented,    are    almost    non- 


lirii 


^lO 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


existent.  Not  that  human  nature  is  different  there 
irom  elsewhere.  The  conditions  are  healthier  in 
this  respect.  German  society  off^ers  little  tempta- 
tion to  the  vulgar  who  bow  down  to  show  and 
wealth;  a  toady  would  seek  in  vain  a  profitable 
return  for  his  *^eff*orts  ;  and,  lastly,  rich  heirs  are 
too  rare  to  reward  the  endeavours  of  intriguing 
matrons. 


I 


(     211      ) 


CHAPTEK  X. 

WOMANKIND  AND  FAMILY  LIFE. 

Wollt  Ihr  wissen,  war  sich  schickt 
So  fraget  nur  bei  edlen  Frauen  an. 

Goethe. 


Tacitus— that  supreme  authority  on  the  Germans 
of  old — mentions  in  enthusiastic  language  their 
deference  for  tlieir  womankind.  He  also  praises 
the  German  women  for  their  severe  chastity,  in 
such  striking  contrast  to  the  Eomans. 

Valerius  Maximus  tells  us  in  reference  to  their 
chastity,  that  the  Teuton  female  prisoners  begged 
victorious  Marius  to  allow  them  to  devote  them- 
selves to  the  service  of  their  holy  virgin  Vesta, 
assuring  him  they  would  preserve  themselves  un- 
stained like  this  goddess  and  her  priests.  In  con- 
sequence of  his  refusal,  they  all  strangled  them- 
selves in  the  following  night.  Bearing  in  mind  the 
brutality  of  those  times,  the  fierce  passions  and 
reckless  life  of  the  men,  this  trait  of  the  chastity  of 
the  women  stands  out  in  bold  relief,  as  also  the 
honour  paid  to  them.  In  fact,  the  veneration  in 
which  their    women    were   held  by  the   Germans 

r  2 


'"'wm 


mmm 


|{||ji| 


]>:l 


2,2  IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

3uns  Tight  throngli  history ;  it  is  met  with  in  the 
Middle  A<^es  in  the  form  of  Virgin  worship,  and  also 
in  the  sentiment  of  the  Minnesingers-the  smgers- 
of  love      It  runs  through  (German  poetry  down  to 
the  present  day.      It  is  true  that,  in  our  matter- 
of-fact  time,  a  little  poetry  goes  to  the  wall ;    hut 
neither  do  we   expect  to   find  the  heroic  virUie  of 
(German  vestals  so  ready  to  run  to  self-nnmolation 
as  of  old.     Evil  tongues  have  even  heen  Known  to 
whisper  that  German  womankind  has  not    always, 
had    sufficient    hatred    for    the    enemies    of    their 
country  to  please   their  lords.      In   fact,  many  oh- 
servers  to-day   fail  to   hnd   that  stern   contro     of 
their  feeling's  the  old  Eoman  historians  credit  them 
with        Perhaps    the    sickly    kind    of    sentimental 
poetry  of  the  last  hundred  years  has  had  something 
to   do  with  the  development  of  demonstrativeness- 
in  German  womanhood.      However,  no  rule  without 
an  exception :  the  Germans  of  to-day  are  as  loud  as 
ever  in  praise  of   their  womankind,  and  the  testi- 
mony of  a  stranger  may  well  he  added  to  the  chorus 
of   praise.      Madame    de    Stael,  in  her  celebrated 
book,  "  De  rAllemagne,"  says  : 

*'The  German  women  possess  a  charm  that  is 
peculiarly  their  own,  a  sweet  intonation  of  the  voice  ; 
fair  hair  and  dazzhng  complexion.  They  arc 
modest,  their  feelings  are  true,  and  their  demeanour 
is  simple  Their  careful  education  and  the  purity 
of  mind  that  is  natural  to  them,  combine  to  make 
lip  the  charm  they  exercise." 

If  we  may  judge  the  intellectual  capacities  ot  a 
race  by  the  history  of  its  greatest  men,  so   we  can 


WOMANKIND  AND  FAMILY  LIFE.        213 

gauge   the   moral   possibilities   of  a   people    by   the 
character  of  its  greatest  and   noblest   women,      lii 
this  sense  the  Germans  may  well  be  proud  of  their 
womankind.      For  although  the  Salic  law  has  pre- 
vented  them  producing  rulers  of  the  type   of  our 
Queen  Elizabeth — except   in  the   one  splendid   in- 
stance of   Maria  Theresa— yet  women  of    German 
blood    have    before    now  played  a  giant's  part  in 
history.     The   Empress   Catherine  of  Ihissia  was  a 
born    German :     Princess     Auguste    Fredericke     of 
Anhalt-Zerbst.      She    was   a    line   instance   of  the 
power  of  will  and  intellect,  though  she  can  hardly 
be   said    to   stand    as    a    model   of    female    virtue. 
Eut  German  history   shows  a  fairer  figure  than  her, 
in  Queen  Louisa  of  Prussia,  the  mother  of  the  late 
Emperor    William.     In    her    were  united    all    the 
noblest  characteristics  of  German  womankind ;  and 
her  example,  stirring  the  soul  of  an  entire  nation  in 
her    time,  may  be  said  to  be  one  of  the  brightest 
prototypes  for  the  Germans  of  tlie  future  to  dwell  on 
and  to  live  up  to.      It  has    even  been   stated   that, 
without     the     moral     purification     which   Prussian 
society    underwent  through  the   bright   example   of 
her    domestic    life,    it   is   hardly  possible   that  the 
rising  of  Prussia  in    1 8 1 3  against  Napoleon  could 
have  taken  place.      An  author  of  the  period  says  of 
her : 

"  The  consort  of  Frederick  William  III.  w\as  en- 
dowed by  nature  with  everything  that  can  be 
deemed  charming  in  the  sex.  The  fairest  queen 
with  a  yet  fairer  soul :  a  whole  woman  in  the 
•M^ords'  deepest  meaning.     No  wish  to  participate  in 


214 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


the  rule  of  her  husband  was  in  her  character,  onl}r 
devotion  to  his  person,  nurtured  by  love,  the  purest 
type  of  innocence  and  high  womanly  modesty  ;  such 
were  the  principal  traits  in  Louisa's  character,, 
which  were  destined  to  form  the  happiness  of  the 
kin^T  and  to  be  the  model  of  a  wife  to  the  nation  at 

large." 

Another  author  like  the  one  already  quoted,  a 
severe  observer  of  mankind,  Herr  von  Lang,  in  his- 
Memoirs,  says  of  the  queen :  "  She  was  in  truth  a 
woman  who  hovered  like  an  ethereal  being  over  us,, 
in  the  form  of  an  angel,  with  the  sweetest  persua- 
sive powers  with  which  she  cast  the  rays  of  her 
lovely  nature  around  her,  so  that  everybody  was  as 
if  transfixed  into  a  dream,  charmed  by  this  livings 
moving  fairy  picture." 

This  is  high,  yes,  even  extravagant  praise  ;  but  it 
is  fully  borne  out  by  every  testimony  of  friend  and 
foe,  amongst  the  latter  Napoleon  and  his  councillor 
Talleyrand,  who  said  of  her  :  "  I  knew  I  should  see 
a  lovely  queen;  but  I  have  seen  the  loveliest  of 
queens  and  the  most  interesting  of  women." 

IL 

Next  to  history,  the  literature  of  a  country  affords, 
us  a  clue  to  the  character  of  a  nation's  women.  At 
least,  its  poets  show  us  what  its  ideals  are  like.  The 
heroines  of  Walter  Scott,  Eichardson's  "Clarissa 
Harlowe,"  and,  above  all,  the  glorious  creations  of 
Shakspeare,  are  heirlooms  to  the  end  of  time  to- 
show  posterity  what  English  womanhood  resembled 


WOMAXKIXD  AND  FAMILY  LIFE,        2i^ 

— in  its  purest  ideality,  perhaps,  the  rarest  union  of 
tenderness  allied  to  strength  of  character  yet  revealed 
to  man. 

A  cursory  glance  at  the  German  creations  of 
fiction  show  a  marked  difference  to  those  of  our 
country.  No  purer,  no  fairer  types  has  literature 
created  than  those  of  Croethe  and  Schiller,  yet  they 
are  distinctly  (merman;  they  are  different  from  our 
own.  Our  ideal  women  show  an  independence  of 
character  that  is  absent  from  the  German  type. 
The  (rerman  figure  of  poetry  enables  us  to  under- 
stand the  national  boast  that  there  is  nothing  like 
German  ''  Weibliclikeit "  (womanliness).  It  is  un- 
doubtedly a  splendid  quality,  and  yet  we  cannot 
bring  ourselves  to  consider  its  uniqueness  as  always 
synonymous  with  superiority  to  our  own.  Each 
type  has  its  lights  and  shades,  its  strong  as  well  as 
its  weak  points.  But  to  our  insular  mind  the  Ger- 
man ideal  is  a  little  too  self-forsjettinj^lv  devoted,  too 
slavislily  worshipping,  not  to  make  us  feel  a  lack  of 
that  strong  individuality  we  find,  for  instance,  in 
women  of  Slavonic  race. 

There  is  sometliing  in  the  German  ideal  of  woman- 
hood that  bids  us  feel  their  devotion,  once  given, 
leaves  us  no  further  fields  to  conquer.  There  is 
sometliing  in  the  English  and  Slavonic  type  that 
makes  us  feel  it  imperative  not  only  to  gain,  but  to 
retain,  her  devotion.  Thus  we  are  of  opinion  that 
English  as  well  as  Slavonic  women  hold  their  in- 
fluence Ipnger  than  their  German  sisters. 

(ioethe's  Gretchen  ("Faust")  is  essentially  Ger- 
man in  her  simple-minded  x^urity,  but  even  more  st> 


2l6 


IMPERIAL  GERM  ANY. 


WOMANKL\D  AAD  FAMILY  LIFE. 


217 


|> 


in  her  childlike  devotion,  and,  later  on,  in  her  re- 
morse. Of  Egmont's  "  Clarchen  "  almost  the  same 
may  be  said.  They  cause  us  to  feel  that  it  must  have 
been  easy  to  gain  the  love  of  such  simple  natures, 
and  that  we  should  have  esteemed  them  lightly 
accordingly.  And  yet  it  is  just  this  blind,  simple, 
childlike  devotion  which  looks  up  to  an  Egmont 
as  a  superior  being  that  has  the  greatest  charms 
for  the  German  lover ! 

It  is  interesting  to  note  of  Fredericke  of  Sesen- 
heim,  perhaps  the  sweetest  of  Goethe's  characters 
— for  she  was  a  living  reality — that  it  was  her 
rural  simplicity  that  cooled  the  poet,  or  at  all 
events  enabled  him  to  tear  himself  away  from  her. 
In  Lotte  ("  Werther's  Sorrows")  C;oethe  has 
given  us  another  German  type — the  perfect  house- 
wife cutting  bread-and-butter  all  round.  She  is 
thoroughly  honest  and  true  to  her  husband,  yet  she 
leaves  us  with  a  suspicion  that,  if  poor  Werther  liad 
not  shot  himself,  her  friendship  for  him  might  have 
presented  her  with  psychological  doubts  as  to  how 
she  should  reconcile  it  with  her  love  to  her  hus- 
band. 

If  tliese  female  creations  excite  the  admiration  of 
the  men,  the  lyric  poetry  of  the  nation  has  an  inor- 
dinate influence  over  the  budding  female  mind.  In 
fact,  poetic  sentimentality  fills  them  often  with  far 
too  many  illusions  to  meet  the  realities  of  life.  For 
it  is  an  instance  of  the  strange  double  nature  of  the 
German  character  that,  whilst  their  poetry  is  so  sen- 
timental, their  conduct  in  daily  life  is  in  such  marked 
contrast.     Anybody   can   convince   himself   of   the 


above  by  a  glance  at  the  numberless  advertisements 
with  off'ers  of  marriage  (Heiratlisgesuehe)  tliat  are 
to  be  found  in  almost  every  newspaper,  not  only 
nowadays,  for  the  custom  dates  back  over  a  hundred 
years.  These  productions  are  strangely  matter-of- 
fact,  sober,  and  sensible  in  tone,  tlie  principal  points 
in  request  being  usually  a  little  money  and  domestic 
virtues  of  manifold  description. 

To  our  mind,  German  girls  lack  that  freedom  our 
own  enjoy,  and,  whilst  the  Germans  are  never  tired 
of  vaunting  the  virtue  of  their  women,  the  sliglitest 
intnnacy  witli  the  other  sex,  unless  followed  by 
immediate  betrothal,  is  sufticient  for  gossip  to  lay 
hold  of  and  discredit  them.  English  women  are 
said  to  be  prudish,  but  in  the  art  of  feeling  shocked, 
Gretchen  beats  her  English  sister  hollow.  At 
parties  you  can  hardly  dance  several  times  with 
a  young  lady,  or  show  a  little  preference  for  her, 
without  gossip  at  once  busying  itself  with  its  being 
a  case  of  engagement. 

This  is  a  great  pity,  and  is  one  of  the  reasons 
girls  are  not  brought  up  in  greater  independence  of 
thought  and  character,  and  taught  to  look  to  their 
own  energy  as  offering  a  possible  career  in  life, 
outside  wedlock.  It  is  not  only  with  us  that 
women  of  tlie  present  day  are  often  too  anxious  to 
get  married  to  enable  them  to  discriminate  and 
choose  wisely.  On  tlie  other  hand,  we  must  admit 
that  German  girls  are  much  less  influenced  by  the 
hope  of  marrying  money  and  position  tlian  the 
•daughters  of  our  well-to-do  classes.  This  is  all  the 
more   to   their   credit  when  we  bear  in  mind  that 


2l8 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


their  men  are  iniicli  more  anxious  to  marry  money 

than  our  own. 

The  daughters  of  the  poor  aristocracy  have  a  far 
greater  horror  of  marrying  heneath  tliem  than  our 
aristocracy,  for  even  money  and  luxury  fail  ta 
overcome  their  traditional  objection  to  trade.  They 
will  marry  poverty  in  almost  any  form  sooner  than 
that.  But,  side  by  side  with  this  prejudice,  they 
possess  the  virtues  of  order  and  economy  in  a  rare 
degree,  and,  as  a  class,  they  have  contributed  their 
share  to  the  present  greatness  of  Germany  by  being 
the  mothers  of  the  great  majority  of  German  officers. 

III. 

Whilst  we,  perhaps,  carry  too  little  sentiment  into 
our  every-day  life,  German  women  have  a  longing  for 
more  than  they  usually  get,  and  it  is  one  of  their 
good  points  that  their  disappointment  rarely  takes 
an  aggressive  form.  They  soon  get  reconciled  to  the 
reality,  and  make  excellent  wives  and  mothers.  In 
fact,  if  only  half-way  well  treated,  no  truer,  no  more 
dutiful  or  better  w^oman  can  be  found.  She  may 
not  rise  to  that  independence  of  thought  and 
conduct  we  now  and  then  meet  in  our  own  country, 
but  neither  are  her  faults  coloured  by  the  qualities 
she  lacks.  If  she  be  not  noted  for  that  sublime 
union  of  breadth  and  boldness  of  character  added  to 
womanliness  we  behold  in  some  of  Shakspeare's 
heroines,  neither  is  she  the  fiery  termagant,  the 
secret  drinker,  to  be  met  with  elsewhere.  Even 
if  not  particularly  happy  at  home,  her  unselfish  love 


l|!w'!. 


WOMANKIND  AND  FAMILY  LIFE.         219 

of  her  family  makes  her  submit  to  many  things 
against  which  the  women  of  other  countries  rebel, 
and  instances  of  moral  depravity  are  rarer  than  in 
almost  any  other  country ;  for,  if  we  are  to  believe 
tradition,  Irish  women  in  this  respect  carry  the  i)alm. 

The  circumstances  of  the  (Jerman  woman's  life 
are  not  of  a  kind  to  produce  those  extraordinary 
instances  of  strong-willed  initiative  we  meet  witii 
among  our  womankind.  Her  education  is  more 
homely,  her  life  more  restricted  ;  the  organization 
of  (German  society  does  not  give  her  a  sphere  of 
action  such  as  many  English  women  have  found  and 
shone  in.  Her  life  is  comparatively  uneventful,  not 
to  say  monotonous,  so  that  even  her  virtues,  let  alone 
her  shortcomings,  are  tinged  w^ith  the  idiosyncrasies 
of  her  surroundings.  But  if  she  is  inclined  to  gossip, 
if  she  often  exasperates  her  husband  by  her  exacting 
pettiness,  and  fails  to  impress  him  with  that  tact  or 
dignity  the  French  possess  so  pre-eminently,  at  the 
bottom  she  is  honest,  self-respecting,  and  reliable  to 
a  rare  degree. 

It  is  only  among  the  German  aristocracy  and 
plutocracy  that  -  we  meet  with  anything  like  the 
independence  of  English  women.  Also  the  women 
of  the  aristocracy  are  more  cosmopolitan  and  less 
nationally  typical  than  others.  They  are  more  free 
from  the  trivial  qualities  above  referred  to;  but, 
although  superior  in  manner,  they  do  not  show  so 
high  a  percentage  of  happiness  in  married  life. 
Where  the  women  of  the  middle  classes  gossip  and 
sulk,  those  of  the  aristocracy  rebel  and  intrigue. 
Divorces  are  very  common,  and  it  is  not  unusual  to 


220 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


WOMANKIND  AND  FAMILY  LIFE, 


22  fi 


meet  half-a-dozen  divorced  men  and  women  at 
evening  parties  in  large  towns.  The  faults  of  the 
bourgeois  are  trivial  and  on  the  surface  ;  beneath  it 
the  body  is  healthy,  and  a  little  more  self-control 
and  attention  to  details  of  manner  would  con- 
siderably add  to  their  sum  of  happiness.  All  in  all, 
the  average  of  married  happiness  seems  to  be  liigher 
in  Crermany  than  with  us,  and  several  conditions 
seem  partly  answerable  for  it.  Of  these,  perhaps  the 
most  prominent  are  the  longer  duration  of  engage- 
ment, enabling  a  better  prior  nmtual  acquaintance ; 
tiie  later  age  Germans  marry  at;  and,  lastly,  the 
greater  aptitude  of  average  (lerman  women  for 
household  work  and  occupation. 

In  Germany  the  woman's  place  is  at  home  :  there 
she  shines  pre-eminent,  self-sacrificing,  devoted  to  her 
family.  She  is  more  domesticated  tlian  tliose  of 
any  other  nation.  It  must  have  been  an  ungrateful, 
dyspeptic  German  husband  who  invented  the  saying, 
*"  Weiber  und  Hunde  gehoren  ins  Haus."* 

Although  in  our  days  of  luxury  and  i>leasure- 
seeking  the  exceptions  are  many  and  daily  in- 
'Creasing  in  number,  yet,  as  a  rule,  German  homes 
are  centres  of  rare  order,  economy,  and  general 
comfort  and  happiness.  And  the  words  of  Schiller 
«till  apply  to  the  German  housewife  : 

Und  drinnen  wallet 

Die  ziichtige  Hausfrau, 

Die  Mutter  der  Kinder, 

Und  herrschet  weise 

Im  hiiuslichen  Kreise,  &c.  &c. 


*  Women  and  dogs  should  be  indoors. 


And  even  more  than  that,  for  althougli  German 
husbands  do  not  grant  their  wives  that  equality  of 
companionship  we  witness  in  England  and  America, 
yet  they  share  more  of  their  husband's  interests 
tlian  the  wives  of  the  above-mentioned  countries, 
and  in  this  more  resemble  their  Trench  sisters.  If 
her  husband  be  deficient  in  the  small  considerations 
of  every-day  life,  yet  he  turns  to  her  for  advice  and 
moral  support  in  all  matters  concerning  the  education 
of  the  children  and  affairs  of  business.  She  is  a 
true  mother  to  her  children,  and  wields  an  influence 
over  them  that  is,  perhaps,  only  met  witli  again  in 
France. 

liising  and  about  almost  as  early  as  her  servants, 
she  sets  them  an  excellent  example,  she  superintends 
their  work,  is  invariably  an  excellent  cook  herself, 
and  finds  her  happiness  in  her  home  activity. 
Althougli  she  exacts  more  of  her  dependents  than 
we  are  accustomed  to,  yet  she  asks  her  servants  to 
do  little  slie  is  not  able  and  willing  to  do  herself, 
although  her  education  fits  her  for  the  society  of  the 
best.  Even  if  lier  servants  be  poorly  paid,  and  only 
too  often  meagrely  fed,  they  are  made  to  feel  a 
greater  interest  in  the  family  than  with  us,  and 
family  festivities  invariably  include  a  crreater  reco^- 
nition  of  the  domestics  than  in  our  country. 

Hence  hei"  infiiience  is  decidedly  beneficial  on  her 
dependents,  the  morality  and  happiness  of  whom  are, 
we  believe,  above  the  average  of  the  same  class  in  our 
country.  That  the  circumstances  of  life  are  happier 
with  them,  is  seen  by  the  few  German  servants  that 
come  to  us  who  can  be  induced   to  stay,  as  hi<^h 


222 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


i|li 


|)|i.; 


wages  cannot  make  up  for  their  isolation.  The 
habits  of  thrift  and  industry  and  cleanliness  of  person, 
and  the  sense  of  self-respect  among  them  are  very 
.strong,  and  lead  to  their  becoming  the  useful  wives 
of  the  working  classes  later  on.  As  such  they  are 
in  every  way  far  superior  to  the  same  class  at  home. 
It  is  very  unusual  for  a  German  servant  girl  not  to 
have  saved  a  round  little  sum  of  money  towards 
starting  housekeeping,  and  it  is  notliing  very  unusual 
to  find  them  enter  the  married  state  with  a  trousseau 
of  linen  worth  over  ^50.  Thus,  it  is  not  surprising 
to  find  a  far  smaller  percentage  of  the  female  lower 
classes  engulfed  in  the  pitiless  waves  of  social  ruin 
than  in  England. 

If  to  our  mind  German  wives  may  in  many 
instances  be  considered  little  better  than  servants, 
on  the  other  hand,  they  hold  that  our  womankind 
inclines  to  luxury  and  laziness.  There  is  certainly 
less  of  outward  pretence  in  German  families,  and 
a  far  greater  percentage  of  people  in  the  middle 
classes  living  well  within  their  income  with  some- 
thing to  spare  than  with  us. 

But  as  everything  has  its  drawbacks,  so  the 
household  work  of  the  German  wife  is  often  the 
oause,  that  when  you  make  your  morning  call  and 
you  are  told  the  gmidigc  Frau — the  gracious  lady — 
will  be  with  you  at  once,  you  have  to  wait  half-an- 
hour  till  she  appears  ;  or  the  "  gracious  lady  "  has 
XI  headache,  or  is  engaged  at  her  toilet,  wdiich  often 
means  that  she  is  so  hopelessly  involved  in  house- 
liold  affairs  that  she  cannot  receive  you  at  all. 


WOMANKIND  AND  FAMILY  LIFE.        223 

IV. 

Of  German  Imsbands,  the  poet  Heine,  in  one  of 
his  vicious  moods,  said,  ''  German  married  life  is  no 
true  wedlock.  The  husband  has  no  wife,  but  a 
servant,  and  he  continues  to  live  on  in  spirit  his 
isolated  bachelor  life  even  in  the  family  circle."  We 
cannot  agree  with  this,  for  in  many  respects  the 
German  husband  is  a  model  of  a  family  man.  He 
upholds  the  sanctity  of  the  family  tie  in  all  its 
most  important  bearings,  and  as  an  anxious,  con- 
scientious father  of  his  cliildren  he  has  few  equals. 
Englishmen,  who  so  often  lose  sight  of  their  sons  in 
their  teens,  can  form  little  idea  of  the  moral  influence 
a  German  father  exercises  over  his  children,  even, 
after  they  have  reached  manhood. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  small  matters  of  every- 
day life,  he  is  not  always  as  appreciative  of  his 
consort's  qualities  as  he  might  be.  In  fact,  he  is 
often  unconscious  of  them,  for,  being  brought  up  to 
expect  so  much,  he  has  rarely  the  sad  experience  of 
what  a  curse  a  lazy,  pleasure-seeking  woman  may 
become.  And  thus  Bismarck's  remark  that  "  our 
wives  are  the  only  ladies  we  are  rude  to,"  lias  more 
than  a  passing  meaning. 

Notwithstanding  the  many  ethereal  qualities 
love-sick  Germans  credit  their  women  with,  once 
married,  they  generally  become  wonderfully  sober 
and  matter-of-fact.  They  know  they  are  the 
stronger,  and,  except  in  rare  cases  of  good  breeding, 
do  not  scruple  to  show  it  when  their  sensitive 
nerves  are  irritated.     They  are  slightly  inclined  to 


224 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


III 


"bully  and  domineer,  and  direct  contradiction,  such 
as  "  that  is  not  true  "  (lias  ist  nicht  wahr),  is  not  at 
all  uncommon,  and  is  thought  nothing  of.  Nor  da 
they  like  to  be  told  tliat  they  are  often  responsible 
for  the  petty  weaknesses  of  their  women.  On  the 
contrary,  they  are  nervously  anxious  that  their  help- 
mates should  beliold  in  their  august  countenances 
the  effulgence  of  Jupiter  Tonans,  and  recognize  it 
to  be  their  supreme  function  to  serve  and  to  obey. 

There  is  a  certain  restlessness  in  the  tempera- 
ment of  Germans  that  bids  them  devote  much  of 
their  tune  to  the  exclusive  society  of  their  own  sex^ 
which  they  do  in  the  beerhouses,  of  which  the 
number  and  the  extensive  patronage  is  beyond 
belief.  Ciermans  of  almost  every  j)Osition  of  life 
frequent  these  beerhouses,  and  those  that  are 
married  invariably  justify  this  habit  by  telling  their 
indub^ent  wives  that  it  is  necessary  for  the  broader 
intellect  of  man  to  seek  sweet  converse  and  ani- 
mation in  the  society  of  their  own  kind.  The  inter- 
change of  ideas  is  important  to  keep  themselves^ 
abreast  of  the  great  questions  of  the  day.  Those 
who  have  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  (lerman  beer- 
house society  are  likely  to  hold  a  different  opinion 
of  the  breadth  and  wealth  of  ideas  that  permeate 
the  smoky  atmosphere.  However,  the  fact  remains 
that  Crerman  husbands  spend  more  of  their  spare 
time  in  men's  company  without  their  wives  than 
we  do,  and  hence  their  women  are  much  restricted 
to  the  company  of  their  own  sex.  This  is  the 
more  to  be  regretted  when  we  bear  in  mind  that 
the  education  of  women  in  Germany  is  so  excellent^ 


WOMANKIND  AND  FAMILY  LIFE.        225 

that  it  only  requires  sucli  social  fostering  as  they 
often  seek  in  vain,  in  order  to  make  their  society 
the  most  interesting  one  could  wish,  ten  times  more 
healthy  and  entertaining  tlian  tliat  of  any  beer- 
house. As  it  is,  ladies'  tea  parties,  so-called  "  Ivaffeo 
Klatsch,"  restrict  them  to  small-talk  and  petty 
gossi}),  and  thus  cause  a  want  of  breadth  of  view 
and  feeling  entirely  unworthy  of  the  excellent 
education  they  have  received. 

In  this  respect  German  husbands  are  often  selfish, 
and  rarely  fight  out  that  victory  over  their  meaner 
nature  by  which  an  Englishman  concpiers  his 
longing  to  spend  an  evening  at  his  club,  and  sub- 
missively hurries  home  to  a  fireside,  where  he  does 
not  always  receive  an  adequate  welcome.  Por  the 
male  type  of  the  silent  sufferer  {dcv  stiUc  Didder) 
is  much  more  common  with  us  than  in  Germany. 
These  remarks,  however,  apply  more  to  the  so-called 
better  middle  class ;  to  the  honour  of  the  masses  it 
must  be  said,  that  their  wives  share  more  of  their 
company.  In  fact,  they  usually  take  their  anmse- 
ments,  such  as  theatre-going,  country  outings,  beer- 
drinking  together.  This,  indeed,  is  one  of  the 
reasons  why,  though  considerable  beer-swillers,  they 
so  seldom  get  intoxicated.  However  humble  the 
means,  there  are  few  working-men's  families  that 
have  not  got  a  little  somethmg  week  by  week  set 
aside  for  common  amusement. 

We    have    dwelt  on    the    typical    shortcomings, 
which,  as  everywhere,  mark  the  majority. 

The   exceptions   are  also   distinctly  typical,   and 
nowhere  reach  a  higher  ideal  of  happy  family  life 

Q 


226 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


(    227    ) 


ii. 


llii'lii! 


m 


than  in  Germany.  Here  we  find  sympathetic  feel- 
ing blended  with  rare  breadth  of  philosophic  educa- 
tion and  culture,  skill  in  the  arts,  and  delicate 
tenderness  of  heart. 

An  illustration  of  this  is  brought  near  to  us,  and 
in  the  loftiest  social  sphere,  as  all  know  who  have 
read  the  Journals  of  our  Queen.  The  little  touches 
therein  contained  of  family  gatherings  at  Christmas, 
and  on  other  occasions,  are  quite  in  the  ideal  German 
spirit ;  no  less  than  the  Prince's  custom  of  allotting 
to  each  child  a  garden  to  be  cultivated  by  its  own 
hand,  with  tlie  festival  which  was  held  when  the 
products  were  by  themselves  cooked  and  eaten. 
This  is  simply  an  instance  of  the  idea  of  the 
Prussian  Prince  learning  a  trade  applied  to  the 
iemale  side. 


CHAPTER    XL 

THE  PHILISTINE. 

Arrogance  is  a  plebeian  vice. 

I. 

"We  have  endeavoured  to  describe  qualities  that 
excited  the  admiration  of  Carlyle  and  many  others. 
It  is  but  meet  to  point  to  shadows,  if  only  to  set  off 
■the  light. 

Those  who  have  heard  of  our  national  self-suffi- 
ciency after  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  and  those  who  can 
remember  the  truculent  bumptiousness  of  the  French 
'Chauvinist  element  after  the  Italian  campaign  of 
1859,  ought  not  to  be  surprised  at  any  manifestation  of 
national  conceit  in  Germany  after  the  victoriesof  1 870. 
But  it  must  be  noted  as  one  of  the  brightest  sides  of 
the  German  character  that  their  best  intellect  seems 
to  have  remained  wonderfully  sober  in  the  midst  of 
intoxicating  success.     This  is  particularly  the  case 
in  the  army  and  in  diplomatic  circles,  whilst  here 
and  there  it  is  surprising  to  see  a  knot  of  university 
professors  showing  more  of  chauvinistic  ardour  than 
of  calm  philosophy.     Even  the  occasional  big  words 
of  a  Bismarck  are  invariably  uttered  with  a  purpose 

Q  2 


ili 


228 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


ill 


^-:f 


— as  a  means  to  an  end.  For  tliongli  he  may  tell  ti>^ 
tliat  tlie  (lermans  only  fear  (Joel,  we  know  that  they 
fear  a  few  other  items  besides — notably,  Social 
Democracy  and  the  Philistine  spirit. 

We  can  remember  the  rebuke  administered  to  a 
man  of  letters  who  opined  that  the  Germans  would 
beat  the  French  again.  "  You  must  not  say  that,'" 
remarked  a  high  Prussian  officer  present ;  "  that  is 
in  God's  hand." 

Unfortunately,  this  humility  does  not  characterize 
the  German  Philistine,  who  is  largely  represented  in 
the  community.  In  him  the  Germans  originally 
typified  the  small  citizen-class  that  has  had  no 
higher  education ;  but  his  cast  of  mind  is  found 
present  in  other  circles  as  well.  His  is  that  narrow^ 
carping  spirit,  the  existence  and  growth  of  which 
may  be  regarded  as  largely  owing  to  the  unhappy 
political  condition  of  the  past  reacting  on  the  weaJv 
sides  of  the  national  character. 

German  unity  was  never  his  ideal,  nor  has  its^ 
attainment  yet  shown  manv  si^^ns  of  ennoblinoj  him. 
When  the  advantages  enjoyed  by  other  countries 
only  served  to  instruct  and  urge  on  the  efforts  of 
Germany's  best  intellect  and  character,  the  Philistine 
mingled  his  hatred  {Schadoifraide)  and  envy  with 
a  cringing  deference  to  foreign  superiority ;  and  when 
that  did  not  suffice,  he  had  a  little  of  those  qualities- 
to  spare  for  the  best  men  of  his  own  country.  The 
speciality  of  hatred  termed  "  Schadenfreude "  is 
essentially  a  Philistine  German  quality,  and  is  un- 
translatable. It  means  the  gratification  of  j)ent-up 
.envy — the  ]oy  over  the  misfortune  of  those  we  had 


THE  PHILISTLXE, 


n'> 


29 


previously  cringed  to  and  envied.  It  is  allied  to  a 
•craze  for  grumbling  ((^fe  llaisonmmi)  wliich  was  ever 
a  Philistine  virtue.  And  yet,  strange  to  say,  whilst 
indulging  in  these  feelings  with  regard  to  everything 
around  him,  the  Philistine  has  ever  been  the  supt 
porter  of  the  old  fossilized  order  of  things. 

When  Aristides  was  being  ostracised,  an  Athenian,, 
who  did  not  know  him,  asked  him  to  mark  his 
shell  for  him.  "  What  has  he  done  to  you  that 
you  should  wish  him  to  be  banished  ?"  Aristides 
inquired.  "  Oh,  I  am  tired  of  hearing  him  called 
the  Just,"  the  Athenian  Philistine  replied.  Xeither 
does  his  German  confrere  of  to-day  like  to  hear  any 
one  praised. 

In  his  temperament  the  querulous  rowdy  is  ready- 
made.    Yet  his  is  the  nature  that  makes  his  country- 
men ridiculous   by   prizing  and   bowing    to    empty 
titles,  whilst  true  distinction  is  beyond  his  ken.    He 
alternates    between   loud   aggressive    arrogance  and 
mean,  cringing  servility.      To  this  class  Goethe  is  a 
haughty  aristocrat, \and   even   poor   Schiller  a  prig. 
To-day  he  sneers  at  ]]ismarck  a  la  Metternich,  and 
to-morrow  he  boasts  that  Bismarck  is  only  the  mouth- 
piece  of  such  as  he.      Yesterday  he  sneered  at  the 
idea  of  the  Germans  presuming  to  beat  the  French, 
^nd  to-day  he  talks  of  his  countrymen  ousting  the 
English  from  South  Africa. 

A  trait  of  his  fretful  sensitiveness  leading  to  arro- 
gance was  illustrated  the  other  day,  when  one  of  the 
fraternity  received  a  communication  from  the  Im- 
perial Law  Courts  at  Leipsic  in  which  he  was  merely 
•addressed  as  "  well-born,"  whereas   he   opined  that 


i 


iilli : 


230 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


the  title  of  "  high  and  well  born  "  was  liis  due.  He-. 
immediately  stigmatized  the  omission  as  a  "  colossal 
want  of  tact,"  and  paternal  government,  with  an 
Argus  eye  for  its  own  dignity,  was  not  long  in  return- 
ing the  compliment  in  the  form  of  a  fine  of  £6,  or 
twelve  days'  imprisonment. 

Another  apposite  manifestation  of  the  Philistine- 
spirit,  well  known  and  tolerated  in  other  countries,. 
has  hardly  done  more  than  show  its  cloven  foot  in. 
Germany.  It  did  so  at  the  accession  to  the  throne 
of  the  present  Emperor,  when  the  Court  shopkeepers, 
of  Berlin  tried  to  present  an  address  emphasizing 
their  loyalty  and  devotion.  Luckily,  the  attempt, 
to  gain  signatures  fell  very  flat ;  so  that  we  may 
well  hope  this  insidious  form  of  Philistine  flunkeyism 
will  not  take  root  in  Germany. 

II. 

The  patriotism  of  the  Philistine  is  of  a  peculiarly- 
aggressive  and  arrogant  kind,  yet  windy  and  emptor 
for  all  that.  It  has  not  even  the  misdirected  concen- 
tration of  French  chauvinism,  for  indifference  is 
mingled  with  hatred  and  conceit.  This  indifference,, 
indeed,  is  the  cause  that  he  is  not  impressed,  much 
less  carried  away,  by  military  glamour  :  he  only  suns 
himself  in  it,  as  a  cheap  form  of  patriotism. 

He  speaks  of  the  English  as  a  nation  of  shop- 
keepers,* yet  conveniently   forgets  that   no   part  of 


li 


*  To   those   Englishmen  who  know    something    of   England 
having  spent  millions  to  abolish  the  slave  trade  in  her  colonies^ 


i 


THE  PHILISTINE, 


211 


Bismarck's  policy  has  earned  such  unqualified  ap- 
proval in  the  Eatherland  as  his  endeavour  to  com- 
pete with  the  English  as  traders  beyond  the  sea. 
He  meets  his  boon  companions  in  the  beerhouse,  and 
will  enlarge  on  the  enormous  strides  German  com- 
merce has  made  of  late,  being  able  to  laugh  at 
English  com2)etitioii,  &c.  He  probably  is  not  aware 
that  the  Germans  are  still  a  little  way  off  dis- 
tancing the  English,  but  he  forgets  what  he  ought 
to  know  and  remember — that  a  good  many  branches 
of  German  trade  would  be  in  a  sad  plight  if  it 
were  not  for  those  very  English  who  keep  them 
going  with  their  orders,  whilst  almost  every  English 
product  is  kept  out  of  the  country  by  strong  pro- 
tective tariffs,  that  enable  the  Germans  at  once  to 
oust  them  and  to  imitate  them  successfully. 

He  boasts  of  the  enterprising  spirit  of  German 
commerce,  whereas  the  principal  enterpriser  in 
Germany  is  the  State,  whose  competition  in  many 
ways  cripples  the  initiative  of  the  individual. 

He  rides  home  from  his  favourite  beerhouse  in 
a  tramway  car,  started  and  financed  by  an  English 
company;  f(^r  several  of  the  German  tramways  were 
started  by  English  enterprise  and  capital.*  When 
he  reads  that  the  English  company  has  sold  the 
concern  at  a  good  profit  and  it  has  been  taken  over 

and  having  ruined  her  West  Indian  colonies  in  the  process,  this 
universally  current  opinion  on  us  as  a  nation  is  amusing.  The 
true  nations  of  shopkeepers  are  those  who  keep  their  shops  open 
all  the  week,  Sundays  included,  from  morning  until  late  at  night, 
and  whose  families  literally  live  in  their  shops  :  not  the  English. 
*  As  also  were  formerly  many  German  gas  companies. 


232 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


m\ 


by  local  capitalists,  he  reviles  the  sordid  instincts  of 
the  English,  and  is  disgusted  at  the  huge  profit  they 
have  made  out  of  the  ^oor  Germans.  Yet,  when 
this  amiable  individual  insures  his  house  or  his 
life,  the  chances  are  he  will  do  so  with  an  English 
company,  although  the  German  institutions  are  per- 
haps to  be  preferred. 

A  favourite  wp.r-horse  of  the  Philistine  is  his 
hatred  of  the  Jews — not  that  dislike  of  tlie  race 
which  is  shared  by  many  high-minded  people,  who 
would  never  think  of  slandering  them,  or  allowing  it 
to  influence  their  respect  for  individuals.  Xo  ;  his 
liatred  is  based  on  envy,  because  they  succeed 
where  he  makes  but  a  poor  shift. 

Macaulay  said  that  the  Puritans  hated  bear- 
baiting,  not  because  of  the  cruelty  to  the  bear,  but 
because  of  the  pleasure  given  to  the  spectators.  The 
German  Philistine  feels  nmeh  in  the  same  way. 
He  would  fain  be  rich.  He  dislikes  the  Jews 
because  they  are  rich.  And  yet  the  chances  are 
that  the  Philistine  will  even  take  his  daily  opinions 
from  a  Jewish  paper,  and  vote  for  a  Jewish  town- 
councilman,  or  member  of  parliament.  He  will  even 
at  a  pinch  employ  a  Jewish  lawyer  and  call  in  a 
doctor  of  the  Hebrew  persuasion  ;  in  fact,  it  throws 
a  lurid  light  on  the  helplessness  of  the  Philistine, 
that  the  Jews — a  foreign  but  homogeneous  element 
— have  gained  such  ground  in  their  midst,  notwith- 
standina*  all  such  hatred. 


THE  PIIILISTIAE, 


III. 


'^ZZ 


Such  is  the  inconsistency  of  tlie  German  I'liilis- 
tine;  and  yet,  in  the  aggregate,  he  is  a  powerful 
animal  for  harm.  He  has  given  Prince  Bismarck  a 
lot  of  trouble  in  liis  time.  He  actually  cliuckles 
with  deligliL  when  the  great  man  is  irritated  by  the 
venomous  onslaughts  of  Liberal  orators.  He  gloats 
over  the  discontent  of  the  working  classes  as 
evidenced  by  the  spread  of  Social  Democracy ;  he 
loves  to  exaggerate  it  and  to  foretell  the  ruin  of 
the  future.  He  does  not  know  that  the  narrow- 
minded  apathy  and  incapacity  of  his  class  is  in  part 
responsible  for  the  growth  of  what  he  deplores.  It 
is  owing  to  his  want  of  stamina  and  national  feelino- 
tliat  the  Social  Democrats  have  had  such  easy 
play.  Were  it  not  for  the  energetic  action  of  the 
Government,  the   Philistine   middle-class   mio-ht  be 

o 

speedily  swallowed  up  l)y  the  former;  for  some 
of  its  characteristics  have  found  a  congenial  held  in 
the  new  movement — the  gos2)el  of  hate. 

When  Imperial  measures  are  proposed  that  seem 
to  curtail  the  privileges  of  his  own  petty  Sovereign, 
he  rails  and  throws  himself  in  the  breach,  or,  more 
literally,  buries  his  head  in  his  beer-mug  and 
mutters  his  imprecations  at  Prussian  arrogance, 
^ot  that  his  meagre  loyalty  will  hold  water,  for  in 
his  own  narrow  circle  he  is  the  life  and  soul  of 
•opposition  to  the  powers  that  be.  He  hates  and 
detests  the  ''  beggarly  "  aristocracy,  and  sneers  at  its 
pretensions  to  refinement.  And  at  tlie  bottom  of  it 
all  there  is  a  sneaking  fondness  for  the  Austrians, 


tt 


234 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


THE  PHILISTINE, 


23> 


and  even  for  the  French ;  for  up  till  lately  there  was 
a  Chinese  wall  of  Philistinism  between  Prussia  and 
some  of  the  other  States,  where  even  to-day  patriotism 
is  yet  a  sickly  plant ! 

Bismarck  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  C»ermany  is 
being  ruined  by   the   beer   plague."     And   beer  is 
indeed   the   spirit  that  inspires  the  Philistine,  the 
beer  politician  ixir  excellence  !     It  nourishes  his  envy. 
He  wonders  how  much  money  his  neighbours  are 
making.      If  he  hears  that  one  of  them  is  in  the  habit 
of  having  hot  suppers  at  home,  he  spreads  the  report 
that  he  is  living  beyond  his  means.      If  he  thinks 
the  proprietor  of  his  favourite  beerhouse  is  making 
too  much  money,  this  is  apt  to  disagree  with  him^ 
and    he    and    his   boon   companions   will    suddenly 
transfer  their  patronage  to  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street,  in  order  to  show  mine  host  that,  although  lie 
may  have  taken  their  money,  he  is  nobody  after  all ;. 
for  if  anything  irritates   the  Philistine  more  than 
the  knowledge    that    anybody  is  making  money,  it 
is  to   have  to    admit    the    political  success   of  an 
opponent !     When  a  German  member  of  Parliament 
told  Bismarck  that  German  unity  had  fallen  like  a 
ripe  fruit  into  his  hand — when  Windhorst,  the  great 
Catholic  parliamentary  leader,  told  Bismarck  that  it 
was  easy  to  do  what  he  had  done,  with  the  Prussian 
army  at  his  back — that  sentiment  found  a  ready 
echo  in  the  Philistine  heart  right  through  the  Father- 
land.      Slander    is    the    favourite    pastime    of    the 
Philistine,  and  the  smaller  fry  of  local  lawyers  are 
kept  going  by  the  endless  despicable  quarrels  that  boil 
up  and  overflow  out  of  the  cauldron  of  hate  into  the. 


public  press;  for  tlie  laws  against  defamation  of 
character  are  so  vexatious,  and  at  the  same  time  si^ 
inadequate,  that  altliough  you  can  hardly  say  an 
unkind  thing  of  a  neighbour  but  you  may  be  made 
to  pay  a  fine  of  three  marks,  yet  you  can  indulge  in 
a  cataract  of  invective,  and  insidiously  endeavour  to> 
ruin  a  person's  character,  and  the  law  is  almost 
powerless  to  give  protection;  for  the  Philistine 
originates  as  well  as  propagates  slander.  This  state 
of  things  suits  the  temperament  of  the  Philistine,, 
whose  delight  is  to  serve  out  his  neighbour  in  a 
mean  contemptible  spirit.  Thus,  you  can  hardly 
turn  over  the  leaves  of  the  smaller  provincial  papers 
without  "  apologies  "  and  "  retractions  "  of  the  flim- 
siest kind  meeting  your  eye.  A  common  form  is 
the  following  :  "  Herewith  I  withdraw  my  slanders 
against  X,  and  warn  everybody  against  circulating 
them  any  further."  We  translate  the  following 
three  notices  from  the  columns  of  one  and  the 
same  number  of  the  leading  Saxon  newspaper : — • 

"  Declaration  of  Honour. — I  regret  the  insults  that 
I  gave  expression  to,  under  excitement,  with  regard 
to  Messrs.  Naumann,  hotel  keepers,  in  Leutewitz. 

''A.  0.  Sf:iFERT.*' 

"We  herewith  withdraw  the  insultiuGf  remarks 
made  by  us  with  regard  to  Mrs.  Ida  Schetal,  nea 
Schultze.  (Signed)     "P.  Bohme. 

"  H.  Bohme." 

"  L.  Hoenig  herewith  withdraws  the  vilifications 
expressed  by  him  with  regard  to  the Club." 


mutm 


234 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


THE  PHILISTINE, 


235 


ill 


and  even  for  the  French ;  for  up  till  lately  there  was 
a  Chinese  wall  of  Philistinism  between  Prussia  and 
some  of  the  other  States,  where  even  to-day  patriotism 
is  yet  a  sickly  plant ! 

Bismarck  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  Crermany  is- 
being  ruined  by  the  beer  plague."  And  beer  is. 
indeed  the  spirit  that  inspires  the  Philistine,  the 
beer  politician  'par  excellence  !  It  nourishes  his  envy. 
He  wonders  how  much  money  his  neighbours  are 
making.  If  he  hears  that  one  of  them  is  in  the  habit 
of  having  hot  suppers  at  home,  he  spreads  the  report 
that  he  is  living  beyond  his  means.  If  he  thinks, 
the  proprietor  of  his  favourite  beerhouse  is  making 
too  much  money,  this  is  apt  to  disagree  with  him, 
and  he  and  his  boon  companions  will  suddenly 
transfer  their  patronage  to  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street,  in  order  to  show  mine  host  that,  although  he 
may  have  taken  their  money,  he  is  nobody  after  all ; 
for  if  anything  irritates  the  Philistine  more  than 
the  knowledge  that  anybody  is  making  money,  it 
is  to  have  to  admit  the  political  success  of  au 
opponent!  When  a  German  member  of  Parliament 
told  Bismarck  that  German  unity  had  fallen  like  a 
ripe  fruit  into  his  hand — when  AVindhorst,  the  great 
Catholic  parliamentary  leader,  told  Bismarck  that  it 
was  easy  to  do  what  he  had  done,  with  the  Prussian 
army  at  his  back — that  sentiment  found  a  ready 
echo  in  the  Philistine  lieart  right  through  the  Father- 
land. Slander  is  the  favourite  pastime  of  the 
Philistine,  and  the  smaller  fry  of  local  lawyers  are 
kept  going  by  the  endless  despicable  quarrels  that  boil 
up  and  overflow  out  of  the  cauldron  of  hate  into  the 


f 


public  press;  for  the  laws  against  defamation  of 
character  are  so  vexatious,  and  at  the  same  time  scv 
inadequate,  that  although  you  can  hardly  say  an 
unkind  thing  of  a  neighbour  but  you  may  be  made 
to  pay  a  fine  of  three  marks,  yet  you  can  indulge  in 
a  cataract  of  invective,  and  insidiously  endeavour  to 
ruin  a  person's  character,  and  the  law  is  almost 
powerless  to  give  protection;  for  the  Philistine 
originates  as  well  as  propagates  slander.  This  state 
of  things  suits  the  temperament  of  the  Pliilistine,. 
whose  delight  is  to  serve  out  his  neighbour  in  a 
mean  contemptible  spirit.  Thus,  you  can  hardly 
turn  over  the  leaves  of  the  smaller  provincial  papers 
without  "  apologies  "  and  "  retractions  "  of  the  flim- 
siest kind  meeting  your  eye.  A  common  form  is 
the  following  :  "  Herewith  I  witlidraw  my  slanders- 
against  X,  and  warn  everybody  against  circulating 
them  any  further."  We  translate  the  following 
three  notices  from  the  columns  of  one  and  the 
same  number  of  the  leading  Saxon  newspaper : — . 

"  Declaration  of  Honour. — I  regret  the  insults  that 
I  gave  expression  to,  under  excitement,  with  regard 
to  Messrs.  iN'aumann,  hotel  keepers,  in  Leutewitz. 

''A.  0.  Seifekt.'' 

"We  herewith  withdraw  the  insultuiGf  remarks- 
made  by  us  with  regard  to  Mrs.  Ida  Schetal,  nee 
Schultze.  (Signed)     "P.  Bohme. 

"  H.  Bohme." 

"L.  Hoenig  herewith  withdraws  the  vilifications, 
expressed  by  him  with  regard  to  the Club." 


I 


k-^ 


236 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


\  i 


In  Germany  it  cannot  be  said,  "  Di  minimis  leges 
non  curat "  ;  also,  it  is  to  be  deplored  that  the  com- 
parative cheapness  and  leniency  of  the  penal  laws 
pander  to  the  philistine  and  other  vicious  instincts. 
The  law,  to  our  idea,  tackles  tlie  individual  too 
readily  in  trivial  prosecutions,  and  in  serious  delicti 
its  punishments  are  not  severe  enough.  In  this, 
there  is  too  much  humanitarian  ism.  A  form  of 
crime  very  common  in  Germany — stabbing  (often 
with  fatal  results)  is  treated  far  too  leniently.  The 
3)olicy  of  hanging  a  few  to  encourage  the  others 
would  be  efficacious. 

The  founders  of  German  unity  are  under  no 
illusions  as  to  the  damiers  to  whicli  tlieir  labours 
are  still  exposed  from  the  spirit  of  hatred,  of  envy, 
and  of  dogmatic  pig-headedness  in  the  Philistine. 
They  fear  it  more  than  French  battalions  and  liussian 
Cossacks.  And  well  they  may.  It  is  widespread, 
and  although  not  particularly  demonstrative  at 
present,  it  is  by  no  means  extirpated,  much  less 
powerless  for  harm  in  the  future.  It  is  doubly 
dangerous,  as  it  even  appeals  to  intellectual  men 
on  their  weakest  side — their  vanity.  Is  it  not 
on  record  that  an  eminent  German  professor,  of 
Eurojiean  reputation,  whose  constant  theme  was  a 
great  and  powerful  Ciermany,  hurried  off  in  a  lit  of 
the  sulks  to  Italy  when  once  it  came  to  be  ?  Merely 
because  his  vanity  was  wounded,  that  it  had  not 
come  about  in  his  scholarly  fashion.  Men  of  this 
stamp  are  prone  to  hold  forth  on  the  sanctity  of 
moral  conviction,  but  fail  to  see  the  line  that 
separates  this  quality  from  an  exaggerated  sense  of 


THE  PHILISTINE. 


-j7 


pig-headed  dogmatism  and  vanity  !  ( Jerman  vanity 
is  a  very  ditl'erent  thing  from  French  vanity,  but  it 
is  none  the  better  for  that.  If  Bismarck  had  been 
jwssessed  of  more  vanity,  he  would  have  also  shown 
more  consistency  of  the  kind  that  passes  current 
with  the  Philistines — the  consistency  of  obliquity 
and  greenness  of  vision  ! 

Those  very  elements  in  Germany  that  were  niost 
obstinate  in  oj)posing  Bismarck's  plans  are  now  the 
ones  that  are  ever  airing  everything  German,  and 
rending  the  air  on  festive  occasions  with  tlieir 
appeals  to  every  German  virtue.  A  German 
steamer  is  WTecked  in  the  Bed  Sea,  and  aggressive 
newspaper  articles  hasten  to  reassure  the  public  that 
such  disasters  wall  not  influence  the  "  civilizino- " 
mission  (that  bit  of  French  prostitution  of  language) 
Germany  has  o'er  the  seas.  We  have  even  heard 
it  soberly  stated  that  the  German  language  is  rapidly 
gaining  ground  in  the  United  States  !  Such  talk  is 
not  natural  to  the  hardy  Pomeranian  or  kindred 
men  of  arms,  whose  broken  bones  have  furnished 
the  cement  of  unity.  Such  stuff  has  been  gleaned 
from  the  cosmopolitan  windbags  of  other  countries, 
and  finds  parrot-like  currency  among  German  Philis- 
tines.     It  has  not  even  the  merit  of  originality. 

The  Germans  that  go  to  the  United  States  lose 
their  national  individuality,  and  that,  together  with 
their  w^orking  capacity,  goes  to  swell  the  great 
aggregate  of  the  English-speaking  race  over  there. 
Alas  !  for  the  vain  hopes  of  the  Philistine !  Bis- 
marck know^s  this,  as  he  knows  most  other  things — 
notably,  the  peculiarities  of  the  German  Philistines. 


238 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


THE  PHILISTINE, 


239 


He  knows  that,  side  by  side  with  the  great  qualities 
of  the  nation,  there  lurks  a  good  portion  of  paltry 
egotism  in  public  as  well  as  in  private  life.  He  is 
the  one  great  man  of  his  time,  who  has  dared  to  tell 
his  countrymen  of  their  failings.  We  know  of  no 
other  public  man  in  any  country  who  has  had  similar 
courage.  But  he  could  do  it,  and  they  have  had  to 
hear  it,  for  they  knew  they  could  not  bluster  and 
intimidate  the  man  of  iron.  And  many  like  him 
all  the  better  for  this.  They  instinctively  feel  that 
he  has  earned  the  right  to  tell  them  the  truth, 
thougli  loth  to  admit  it. 

The  late  Emperor  William,  as  well  as  Bismarck, 
felt  that  the  social  evils  of  the  age  will  not  be  met 
by  appeals  to  the  Philistine  spirit,  much  less  by  any 
initiative  from  that  quarter.  This  is  why  they 
strove  to  take  the  initiative,  which  so  many  doc- 
trinaires condemn  them  for  doing.  Whether  it  will 
succeed  the  future  will  show,  but  it  only  wants  an 
acquaintance  with  the  Philistine  to  understand  the 
attempt  being  made. 

IV. 

Although  the  Philistine  is  a  coarse  animal,  he  is 
yet  a  very  sensitive  one.  For  although  education  is 
supposed  to  refine  outward  manners,  it  is  mainly 
owing  to  tlie  Philistine  influence  that  we  meet 
coarseness  and  arrogance  allied  to  a  high  standard 
of  book  education  in  Germany  more  than  elsewhere. 
An  average  Englishman  will  stand  any  amount  of 
blowing-up  if  he  sees  at  the  outset  that  he  is  in  the 


wrong. 


Somehow  common-sense  tells  him  that  is 
the  main  issue,  and  the  blowing-up  merely  a  natural 
consequence.  Not  so  the  German  Philistine :  you 
must  not  trespass  on  his  sensitiveness,  be  he  ever  so 
much  at  fault ;  you  must  remember  liis  dignity ! 
Thus  it  will  not  surprise  us  to  learn  that  the  Philis- 
tine is  devoid  of  humour.  Over-sensitive  people 
never  have  any  humour.  True  humour  is  good- 
natured  and  does  not  mind  being  the  subject  of 
laughter.  In  his  soft  moments  he  is  sensible  to 
lyric  poetry;  mostly  of  a  sickly,  namby-pamby 
kind.  In  fact,  it  must  have  been  a  German  Philis- 
tine recovering  from  one  of  his  fits  of  the  lyrical 
blues,  who  invented  the  national  proverl), "  In  Geld- 
sachen  hort  die  Gemiithlichkeit  auf "  (in  money 
matters  there  is  an  end  of  sentiment).  A  sober, 
utilitarian  dogma,  which  cannot  be  beaten  in  the 
works  of  the  late  John  Stuart  Mill  or  of  Professor 
Clifford. 

But  over  practical  utilitarianism  the  Philistine 
cannot  afford  to  lose  sight  of  the  "  ideal."  So  he 
has  initiated  a  crusade  against  the  use  of  forei<^n 
words  in  the  language.  Everything  foreign  must 
be  extirpated  root  and  branch !  This  would  seem 
less  unnatural  were  it  not  that,  up  till  yesterday,  the 
Philistine  would  have  hailed  the  French  or 
Austrians  with  open  arms  if  they  had  come  and 
given  the  Prussians  a  thrashing.  But  that  was 
yesterday  !  To-day  even  the  French  language  nuisD 
be  tabooed,  and,  if  possible,  discarded.  A  con- 
gi'ess  of  card-players  is  held  in  Leipsic,  and  although 
it  hesitates  to  banish  "  all  "   foreign   denominations 


240 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


THE  PHILISTINE. 


241 


!1 


IM! 


Ill 


from  the  popular  game  of  scat,  it  yet  decides  to  do 
away  with  every  term  of  French  origin.  The  next 
thing  they  ought  to  do  in  a  fit  of  egregious  I'hilis- 
tine  consistency  woukl  be  to  give  up  card-phaying 
altogether,  for  cards  are  a  French  in^  ention  ! 

Naturally,  such  crazes  find  no  footing  in  the 
army,  where  many  denominations  are  French.  In 
fact,  a  CJerman  army  corps  is  a  beautiful  (;ernian 
creation,  although  the  name  is  French. 

The  recognition  and  adaptation  of  what  is  foreign 
is  a  two-edged  sword.  It  may  be  a  sign  of  mental 
breadth,  but  it  is  liable  to  go  too  far ;  with  the 
Germans  it  has  often  verged  on  the  ridiculous. 
The  running  amuck  of  the  Philistines  will  not 
all  of  a  sudden  obliterate  that  fact.  They  are 
the  people  who  till  lately  would  accept  nothing 
indigenous  without  strong  reservations  of  "  ifs  "  and 
"  buts,"  whilst  often  taking  a  worthless  article 
unquestioned  if  guaranteed  English  or  French. 

That  the  preference  for  what  is  foreign  has  been 
a  sreat  failincj  of  the  Germans,  is  undoubted.  The 
intelligence  of  Germany  has  endeavoured  to  derive 
benefit  from  its  attention  to  foreign  matters, 
whereas  the  Philistine  has  learnt  nothing  but  the 
cheap  art  of  ranting  in  unison  with  the  beerhouse 
cry  of  the  time. 

V. 

The  far-sighted  genius  of  Germany  foresaw  that 
the  French  would  sooner  or  later  endeavour  to  get 
the  left  bank  of  the  PJiine.  The  Philistine  saw 
nothing  of  the  sort :  he  would  even  have  preferred 


the  rule  of  Louis  Napoleon  to  the  hegemony  of 
Prussia.  But  Germany's  leaders  knew  even  more 
than  that :  they  knew  that,  once  the  French  gained 
the  left  bank  of  the  Phine,  it  would  not  take  lonix 
to  Frenchify  it  !  The  left-bank  Philistine  would 
not  have  taken  long  to  assimilate  ;  are  there  none 
living  now  who  still  remember  the  French  sympa- 
thies on  the  left  bank  of  the  Pdiine  long  after  1 8 1  5  I 
But  God  willed  it  otherwise,  and  to-day  the  Philis- 
tine is  at  liberty  to  impair  his  digestion  and  ti 
muddle  his  brain  with  his  daily  mixture  of  beer  and 
cheap  patriotism. 

The  late  Lord  Lytton  praised  the  Germans  as  a 
nation  of  critics.  No  wonder  they  have  become 
celebrated  in  that  capacity,  for  have  they  not  one- 
half  of  the  critic's  functions — the  quality  of  detrac- 
tion ready-made  in  the  Philistine  ? 


R 


(       242       ) 


CHAPTEE  XII. 
GERMAN  COMMERCE  AND   MANUFACTURE. 

Nil  bine  labore. 
I. 

We  have    suddenly  awakened  from  the  blind  in- 
difference with  which  only  yesterday  we  regarded 
the  commercial  doings  of  Continental  nations,  and 
Germany's  recent  efforts  to  secure  colonies  of  her 
own  seem  to  be   at   the   bottom  of   this.     To-day 
our  newspapers  reproduce  every  item  bearing  on 
the  development  of  German  home  and  trans-oceanic 
trade,  that  is  to  be  gleaned  from  ou^^  consular  reports 
.and  other  sources.     Our  politicians  either  trifle  with 
ideas  of  fair  trade,  or  clamour  for  general  technical 
education,  in   order    to  put  us  on  better  terms  of 
competing  with  the  foreigner.      In  one  word,  public 
■opinion  is  fairly  aroused,  and  with  it  a  doubt  has 
risen  whether  our  old  laws  and  methods  are  suffi- 
cient  to   meet   the  commercial    exigencies   of    the 

times  we  live  in. 

Side  by  side  with  our  cry  of  alarm  come  the 
■echoes  of  German  cries  of  exultation  to  our  ears. 
Their  commercial    success  is    trumpeted  in   every 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE, 


243 


exhibition  by  the  official  world,  and  their  press — 
united  at  least  in  this  respect — indulges  in  vain- 
glorious boasting ;  more  so  than  they  have  ever 
boasted  of  their  military  success.  In  fact,  there 
is  a  German  spirit  abroad  lately,  that  is  aggres- 
sive in  its  sudden  belief  and  assertion  that  every- 
thing German  is  the  best.  But  those  that  give 
expression  to  it,  must  be  regarded  w^ith  suspicion. 
They  are  not  identical  with  the  elements  that 
liave  led  their  country  to  victory,  but  more  with 
those  who  up  till  recently — like  St.  Peter  before  he 
Avent  out  and  wept — were  only  too  ready  to  deny 
•their  nationality  again  and  again ! 

In  view  of  this  it  is  amusing  to  remember  the 
stereotyped  expression  of  such  people  w^hen  charac- 
terizing England's  policy  as  "  Kriimer-politik  : " 
-shopkeeper's  policy !  And  to-day  German  public 
opinion,  as  expressed  by  their  newspapers,  literally 
shrieks  in  exultation  at  the  imaginary  prospect  of 
following  in  our  footsteps  and  tapping  the  mythical 
source  of  colonial  wealth. 

But  where  there  is  so  much  noise  and  smoke — 
not  merely  fog — there  must  needs  be  some  fire,  and 
we  will  endeavour  to  point  to  some  of  it.  One  of 
our  buijcbears — the  German  colonies — we  can  dis- 
miss  with  a  few  statistics,  as  far  as  their  trade  is 
•concerned,  the  figures  of  which  are  not  only  com- 
paratively small,  but  even  show  a  marked  tendency 
of  further  declining. 

In  1884  the  total  imports  from  the  West  Coast 
of  Africa  to  Hamburg,  mostly  palm  oil,  were  valued 
«at   133   million   marks,  and   sank   to    1 1 1    million 

R  2 


i 


244         .  IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

marks   (/5 50,000)  in    1887.      The  exports  from 
Hamburcv  thither,  which  amounted  to  41,75  i  tons  m 
1882,  rose  to  56,000    tons  in    i  885,  only  to  sink 
Rf^ain  to  42,000  tons  in  I  887. 
"^  From  East   Africa  tlie  imports   to  Hamburg  ni 
1885  amounted  to  2695  tons,  in  value   1,820,000 
marks,  and  have  since  sunk  to    1578  tons,  in  value 
1,139,000  marks  (/s6,95o).      The  exports  from 
Hamburg  thither  were  highest  in  1883,  with  2830 
tons,  and  now,  after  a  considerable  drop  in    1886,. 
remain  at  2241  tons  in  1887. 

The  exports  and  imports  from  and  to  New  Britain,, 
the  Marshall  Islands,  the  Samoa  Islands  (which  da 
not  belong  to  (lermany),  and  the   (lernian  part  of 
New   rhiinea,  are   hardly   worth   mentioning.      The 
same  applies  to  the  trade  of  the  other  German  ports 
—Bremen  and  Liibeck— with  the  C^^erman  colonies. 
Thus  we  see  that  its  colonies  have  hitherto  not 
been  worth  their  cost  to  Germany,  and  we  can  only 
assume  that  Bismarck  merely  looks  upon  them  as  a 
means   to   an   end— the   fostering   of  the  spirit   of 
national     self-consciousness    by     appealing     to    its 
cupidity  and  by  stimulating  production.     As  such, 
they   doubtless  serve    their  purpose   and   tend    to 
quicken  the  national  anxiety  and  greed  for  foreign 
trade   generally.      In  fact,  the   indirect   results  of 
Bismarck's    aggressive    colonial    policy    have   been 
enormous  in  th'e  moral  impetus  it  has  given  to  the 
commercial  classes. 

Also  protection  has  had  very  marked  results  m 
increasing  home  production,  though  political  econo- 
mists   thhik  it    is    for    a    time  only.     Tlie  textile 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE, 


245 


I 


industries  are  already  complaining  bitterly;  and, 
notwithstanding  protection,  the  export  of  pig-iron, 
.&c.,  has  decreased  during  tlie  first  six  months  of 
1888,  from  741,391  tons  in  the  corresponding  six 
months  of  1887,  down  to  584,2 17  tons,  and  the 
imports  increased  in  the  same  time  from  112,616 
tons  to  142,340  tons. 

Even  here  protection  may  have  done  its  duty 
temporarily  by  giving  the  Germans  the  start  they 
wanted,  though  it  may  be  unal)le  to  secure  to  them 
lasting  advantages. 

It  is  us  and  our  own  colonies  that  attract  the 
Oerinan  trader,  and  when  we  come  to  consider  the 
immense  value  the  English  home  markets  and  our 
colonies  have  for  the  CJerman  producer — when  we 
come  to  consider  that  it  is  only  those  broad  views 
•of  commerce  we  hold  that  places  them  open  to  all 
the  world,  we  think  a  little  more  modesty,  not  to 
«ay  good-nature,  on  the  part  of  Germany  in  speak- 
ino'  of  En'dand  in  commercial  matters,  would  not 
come  amiss.  For  whilst  l^ismarck  has  been  amus- 
ing himself  by  humbling  our  Granvilles  and  snubbing 
•our  Kiinberleys,  we  go  on  buying  and  paying  for 
•German  goods  with  exemplary  insular  stolidity. 


11. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  manufacture, 
•export,  and  general  consumption  of  German  goods 
has  increased  enormously,  in  one  steady  rising  tide, 
say  for  the  last  fifteen  years.  But  (luite  as  inter- 
^stinrr  as   these  undoubted  facts  are  some  of  their 


246 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE, 


247 


I 


causes,  and  \vitli  regard  to  tliese  very  hazy  notions 

seem  to  exist. 

It  is  not  that  we  no  longer  possess  the  qualities^ 
that  made  us  the  greatest  merchants  and  manu- 
facturers of  the  globe  :  it  is  not  that  the  mantle 
with  these  qualities  has  suddenly  fallen  on  tlie 
shoulders  of  Germany,  or  that  technical  education,, 
or  that  State  assistance,  or  that  protection  tariffs,  or 
cheap  labour,  eitlier  are,  in  themselves,  the  only 
causes  of  this  high  tide  of  German  commerce,, 
though  they  all  undoubtedly  have  something  to  do 

with  it. 

The  fact  is,  the  conditions  of  trade  have  changed 
almost  as  completely  as  has  the  method  of  travellin(^ 
since  the   introduction   of  railways.     The  spirit  of 
enterprise,  which  was  long  our  monopoly,  has  spread 
all    over    the    world.      The   earnest    honesty   that 
delights  in  producing  the  best  possible  article  as  a 
matter  of  pride,  is  ours  still ;  the  commercial  apti- 
tude in  subdividing  and  controlling  labour,  is  ours- 
still;  the  splendid  machinery  in  all  branches  of  manu;- 
facture  is  also  ours  still;  but  these  are  no  longer, 
as  formerly,  our  monopoly.     We  have  had  too  good 
a  time  of  it  in  the  past ;  we  have  been  commercially 
spoilt,    and    hence    have    little    experience   of   the 
trouble    and  effort   it  requires   to   wrest    a  market 
from  the  grasp  of  a  rival,  who  has  hitherto  monopo- 
lized it.     This  task  the  Germans  have  had.      Other 
nations,    and     especially     the    Germans,    doubtless 
assisted  by  their  excellent  technical  schools,*  have 


*  Not  only  their  splendid   colleges  (FohjtecJiniclvm)  for  teach* 


learnt  from  us,  and  with  this  our  supreme  «ndvan- 
tages  under  these  headings,  in  the  past,  have  gone 
from  us,  possibly  for  ever  ! 

That  all  this  means  a  comparative  retrograde 
movement,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  That  is  to  say, 
although  our  returns  increase,  they  do  not  increase 
in  the  same  proportion  as  tliose  of  other  nations, 
who  up  to  yesterday  showed  no  export  trade  worth 
enumerating.  This  state  of  things  has  been  held 
up  both  here  and  in  Germany — liere  by  alarmists, 
and  in  Germany  by  enthusiastic  optimists — as 
meaning  that  the  days  of  our  commercial  and  manu- 
facturing superiority  are  over.  Nothing  could  be 
farther  from  the  truth,  as  a  little  insight  will  tend 
to  show. 

To  begin  with,  material  advantages  alone  do  not 
make  a  great  commercial  nation,  or  Austria  and 
Spain  or  Turkey  might  be  on  a  level  with  us,  and 
the  (iermans  would  be  nowhere.  r>readth  of 
character  and  conception  go  for  a  great  deal — in  fact, 
are  inseparable  from  great  commercial  enterprise. 
All  great  commercial  communities  of  the  past  have 
possessed  a  backbone  of  strong  far-seeing  character. 

The  lack  of  that  daring  necessary  to  successful 
trade  is  noticeable  anion cj  the  Latin  races,  who  have 


ing  engineering,  chemistry,  and  physical  science  applied  to 
commerce  call  for  mention,  but  also  their  art-industry  schools 
{KuHstyeirerhcschiden).  These  are  most  numerous  in  the  South, 
where  in  towns  such  as  Frankfort,  Niiremberg,  Carlsruhe,  Stutt- 
gart, Pforzheim,  Hanau,  these  schools  have  contributed  to  an 
extraordinary  development  in  designing  and  particularly  model- 
ling, a  speciality  our  skilled  workmen  are  most  dellcient  in. 


Mil 


li^ 


248 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


not  the  boldness  to  throw  a  sixpence  out  of  the 
window  that  a  shilling  may  come  in  at  the  door. 
Neither  do  they  possess,  in  the  same  degree  as 
the  Germans  and  English,  the  discipline  and  cha- 
racter which  is  necessary  to  control  labour.  Hence 
these  races  do  not  excel  in  the  production  of  manu- 
factured goods ;  and  even  in  France  it  is  peculiar  to 
note  liow  many  of  their  great  manufactories  are 
owned  by  names  of  German  origin. 

In  this  particular  the  Germans  are  rivals  we  have 
every  reason  to  take  note  of,  but  that  does  not  say 
that  they  are  likely  to  supplant  us,  notwithstanding 
their  excelling  us  in  the  production  of  medium  class 
goods.  In  the  meantime,  our  sudden  newspaper 
panic  has  provided  them  with  an  excellent  adver- 
tisement wherever  newspapers  are  read. 

Some  people  aver  that  even  now  there  are  very 
few  items  the  Germans  produce  that  they  do  not 
owe  their  latest  improvements  to  English  or  Ameri- 
can ideas. 


III. 

We  are  aware  that  German  commerce  has  in- 
vaded many  domains  hitherto  more  or  less  English, 
but  that  is  a  long  way  off'  showing  their  being  equal 
or  on  equal  terms.  This  we  doubt.  Even  up  to 
the  present  day  it  is  an  open  question  how  far  they 
would  be  able  to  compete,  if  excellence  of  quality 
combined  with  cheapness  were  the  only  things  in 
request.  Unfortunately  for  us,  tliey  are  not  always 
the  only  points  to  be  considered,  and  that  brings  us  to 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUEACTURE. 


249 


the  main  exphination  of  Germany's  success  in  foreign 
trade ;  it  is  to  be  sought  and  found  not  so  much  in 
the  cheapness  as  in  the  superior  "  adaptalnlity  "  of  the 
German  as  a  producer.  As  a  German  has  ever  been 
apt  to  lose  his  nationality  and  adapt  himself  more 
readily  to  the  country  of  his  adoption,  so  also  in  his 
manufacturing  produce  he  has  a  greater  talent  for 
adapting  his  wares  to  the  demands  and  taste  of  the 
hour  than  the  more  conservative  Anglo-Saxon. 

It  is  not  cheap  labour  alone  that  can  explain  the 
latest  trade  successes  of  the  Germans,  for  there  are 
departments  in  manufacture  in  which  our  native 
trade  has  been  partly  ruined  by  countries  where 
labour  is  far  dearer  than  in  our  own  : — witness  the 
depression  in  the  English  watch  trade,  caused  not 
by  cheap  German  articles,  but  by  tlie  importation 
of  American  watches.  The  Swiss  themselves  were, 
it  may  be  remembered,  being  beaten  out  of  the  field 
by  the  United  States  until  they  adopted  the  Ameri- 
can system  of  manufacture.  \)o  we  not  take 
our  sewing  machines  from  America  still,  although 
the  Germans  in  their  own  protected  country  are 
supposed  to  manufactuie  a  much  cheaper  kind  ? 
Yes,  it  is  our  own  race — not  the  Germans — that 
in  America  often  shows  a  greater  skill  in  the  utili- 
sation of  labour-savin g:  contrivances  and  control  of 
skilled  workmen  than  ourselves  at  home.  The 
•two  advantages  the  Germans  possess  are  the  cheap-- 
ness  of  their  labour,  and  above  all  their  adapta- 
bility in  applying  it  to  the  changing  demands  of  the 
market. 

In  reference  to  the  latter  (piality  a  glance  at  one 


^»;* 


250  IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

single  article  of  commerce  miglit  suffice,  althougli  so^ 
inaiiv  present  exactly  the  same  instructive  features. 
In  days  gone  by  the  only  beer  to  be  found  in  India 
and  the  colonies  was  that  of  our  well-known 
breweries.  Our  beer  has  remained  the  same,  but 
our  colonies  and  the  Continent  no  longer  drink  it 
as  before.  The  Germans  have  appropriated  a  large 
percentage  of  our  export  trade  in  beer,  and  even 
send  year  by  year  greater  quantities  to  this  and  other 

countries. 

How  is  this  ?     Has  the  world  suddenly  discovered 
German  beer  to  be  better  than  English  ?     This  may 
partly  explain,  but  it  does  not  do  so  entirely.     Tlie 
fact  is  simply  this,  that  whereas  we  have  the  same 
strong  ales  we  brewed  twenty  years  ago  (of  which 
Sir  \V.  Gull  once  said,  that  nobody  above  the  age  of 
thirty  ought  to  drink  tliem),  the  Germans  have  in 
the  same  period  completely  changed  and  improved 
the  character  of  the  beer  they  brew.     Not  only  hare 
they  avaded  themselves  of  the  important  discoveries 
of  chemistry  during  the  last  twenty  years,  but  many 
brewers  send  their  sons*  as  apprentices  to  Burton - 
on-Trent,    and  pay  high   premiums  to  the  leading 
firms  to  allow  them  to  work  there.     Tiiese  men  are 
all  technically  and  scientifically  educated  beforehand, 
and  when  they  return  home  they  introduce  all  the 
latest  technical  improvements  they  have  witnessed 

*  The  sons  of  our  manufacturers  unfortunately  rarely  make 
themselves  practically  familiar  with  the  work  of  others  in  their 
branch  of  business-a  general  custom  in  Germany.  That  they 
should  work  for  a  time  in  a  menial  capacity  is,  of  course,  out  of 
the  question. 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE.         251 

in  England.  Thus  the  Germans  have  already  solved 
one  important  problem  our  brewers  have  attemptetl 
so  far  in  vain;  they  can  bottle  their  beer  without 
sediment. 

When  the  German  beer-drinking  public  asked 
for  dark  Ijavarian  mixtures,  tlie  (ierinan  brewer, 
from  the  North  Sea  down  to  within  sio^ht  of  the 
Alps,  brewed  the  stuff  they  asked  for,  and  called  it 
Bavarian  beer.  Later  on,  when  the  light-coloured 
Austrian  beers  came  into  fashion,  the  same  colic  face 
took  place.  And  now,  that  for  the  past  few  years 
the  bright  brown  liquid  of  Munich  itself  has  become 
the  rage,  not  only  have  Munich  breweis  amassed 
colossal  fortunes,  but  all  over  Germany  imitations 
are  concocted,  which  slyly  introduced  under  similar 
trade-marks  to  the  most  celebrated  Munich  ones,, 
quench  the  Teutonic  tliirst,  and  at  the  same  time 
sail  as  close  to  the  wind  of  fraud  as  the  German 
**  Eeichs  Gesetz  "  (Imperial  Law  Code)  will  permit. 

Another  branch  of  trade,  in  which  the  Germans 
have  made  extraordinary  progress,  is  the  manufacture 
of  pianos.*  The  most  expensive  and  elaborate 
pianos  in  the  world  have  been  made  in  New  York, 
and  the  CJermans  have  not  been  slow  to  adopt  the 
mechanical  improvements  one  by  one  as  they 
appeared  in  America.  Possibly  many  of  them  were 
the  inventions  of  hard-workincj  German  mechanics 
in  New  York ;  in  every  case  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  Germans  lost  no  time  in  casting  the  frame- 
work in  one  piece,  and  adopting  one  after  the  other 


*  According  to  the  Cologne  Gazette,  7500  German  pianos,  and 
only  900  English  ones,  were  sold  in  Australia  in  1877. 


252 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE, 


all  the  little  tricky  mechanical  improvements  that 
go  to  make  the  best  pianos  what  they  are. 

During   all   this   time  most  of  our  conservative 
piano-makers    have    been   content   to   revel   in   the 
unctuous  satisfaction  of  being  the  hcaii  j^ossidcntes 
of    the    richest  market   in  the  world.     They  (our 
piano-makers)  allow  heavy  trade  discounts  to  fashion- 
able  musicians    who    reconnnend    their  pianos  and 
negotiate  a  sale,  and  in  the  meantime  the   grand 
,  pianos  of  Bechstein,  Bliitlmer,  and  others  have  come 
over  and  invaded  the   concert-rooms,  and   divided 
honours,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  with  our  own  makers. 
This  is  a  most  striking  instance  of  the  immense 
Advantage  the  native  characteristic  of  adaptability 
legitimately   gives    to   Crerman  trade,   and  a  most 
instructive  one  for  us  as  showing  how  our  lethargic 
self-satisfaction,  plodding   on   in   the   dark,  is  often 
the  cause  of   our  losing  our   former   pre-eminence. 
Our  insular  fault  of  systematically  under-estimating 
our  adversaries   in  trade,  as  in  war,  is   one    of  long 
standing.      It  becomes  doubly  instructive  when  we 
bear  in  mind  that  one  of  the  most  important  items 
in  the  manufacture  of  pianos  is  the  quality  of  well- 
seasoned  wood  employed,  and  that  no  Cierman  firms 
oould   possess,  by   long  standing,  such   stocks   and 
resources  in  this  respect  to  draw  upon  as  several 
of  our  leading  London  piano-makers. 

Textile  industries  supply  another  instance  of  the 
formidable  character  of  ( Jerman  "adaptability,"  which 
is  the  more  remarkable,  bearing  in  mind  our  former 
supremacy.  The  textile  industries  are,  however,  the 
more  suited  to  the  Hermans,  as  they  enable  them  to 


avoid  one  of  the  disadvantages  (Jerman  labour  is 
said  to  be  specially  exposed  to — namely,  the  tendency 
to  produce  inferior  goods.  In  textile  industries  the 
supply  can  be  strictly  regulated  by  the  demand.  The 
plant  of  machinery  is  always,  thanks  to  the  excellent 
technical  education  in  ( Jermany,  the  latest  and  the 
best.  With  it  can  be  produced  the  simplest  and 
the  most  expensive  and  best  goods,  immaterial 
whether  the  works  are  situated  in  Barmen  or  Cre- 
feld,  or  on  the  Polish  frontier,  where  we  have  seen 
the  finest  wool  spun  from  plant  that  came  from 
Mldilhausen  in  Alsace. 

And  this  is  done  in  towns  such  as  Crefeld,  Bar- 
men, and  Elberfeld,  which  send  tons  upon  tons  of 
"oods  to  Enoland  and  her  colonies.  Cotton  and 
woollen  braids,  silk  and  cotton  galloons,  bindings- 
for  tailors,  Italian  cloth,  &c.  &c.,  all  find  their  way 
to  our  shores  at  the  expense  of  Manchester  and 
other  towns.  They  almost  monopolize  the  Chinese 
market  with  their  medium  quality  of  Italian  cloth 
and  satin  de  Chine. 

This,  not  so  much  because  they  are  cheaper,  as 
because  they  are  quicker  arid  more  dexterous  in 
fitting  their  supply  to  the  changing  demands  of  the 
markets. 

Whilst  our  carpet  manufacturers  continue  making 
the  old-fashioned  so-called  Brussels,  Axminster,. 
Wilton  pile,  styles  and  patterns,  the  Cernian  manu- 
facturers, quickly  discerning  the  modern  taste  for 
Oriental  carpets,  make  excellent  and  cheap  imita- 
tions of  the  latter,  and  send  them  over  to  us.  In 
woollen,   flannel,  cotton,  and  silk  goods  the  same 


^54 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


quickness   of  adapting  the   article   to   the   require- 
ments of  the  day  is  noticeable,  whereas  our  makers 
are   often   too  conservative  to  make   a  pattern  at 
variance   with  the  character  of   their   stock.     For 
instance,   it  is  well  known  in  the  stocking   trade 
that  foreign  shapes  differ  from   our  own,  inasmuch 
as  the   sizes   are   larger  in  proportion  to  those  of 
some  other  countries,  whilst  we  are  longer  in  the 
leg.     It  is  very   rarely  an  English  maker  can  be 
induced  to  make  a  special  pattern  to  suit  foreign 
trade :  it  does  not  pay  them,  they  say.    The  Germans 
do  it  readily.     The   advantage  they  reap  in  this 
respect    is   very  noticeable  in  trans-oceanic   trade. 
Our  consular  reports  teem  with  instances  to  prove  this. 
The  British  Consul  at  Paramaibo  tells  us  :  "  The 
importation  of  hardware   goods  is,   on   the   whole, 
satisfactory  to  British  trade,  but  Germany  is  press- 
ing very  close  on  the  heels  of  Sheffield  by  the  pro- 
duction of  wares  wliich,  being  cheaper,  are  also  not 
as  serviceable,  but    are    so   polished,  painted,   and 
put  up  as  to  please  tlie  eye,  and  the  difference  in 
price  leads  many  of   the   people   in   this  colony  to 
buy  these  goods  in  preference  to  the  more  durable 
Endish  manufactured  goods.     IMerchants  would  do 
well  to  look  to  the  manner  of  placing  tlieir  goods. 
A  card  of  German  scissors,  cheap,  and  of  the  poorest 
material,  nicely  placed  on  a  pretty  card,  and  hung 
lip  in  a    shop-window,  will  attract  attention,  whilst 
the  better  and  higher-priced  English  article,  done 
up  in   a   brown   paper   parcel   and   put  away  on  a 
shelf  as  not  being  an  article  for  exhibition  in  the 
Nwindow,  will  lie  for  years  unsold." 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE.         255 

The  British  Consul  at  Tangiers,  in  his  report  for 
1877,  tells  us  how  a  large  trade  has  sprung  up 
there  in  English  parafhn  candles.  But  already  the 
Germans  are  at  our  heels,  for  they  not  only  imitate 
our  packages  of  these  goods,  but  make  special  sizes 
and  shapes  to  suit  the  local  consumers.  In  cloth 
stuffs  the  same  readiness  to  lit  the  supply  to  the 
demand  is  visible,  witli  the  result  that  we  only 
succeed  in  supplying  that  place  with  material  for 

the  army. 

But  the  consular  reports  of  South  America  supply 
us  with  tlie  most  interesting  matter.  The  splendid 
resume  of  Vice-Consul  Tliomas  of  Santiago  (referred 
to  in  the  Times,  October  1887)  is  indeed  instructive 
reading.  He  says :  "  If  British  trade  with  Chili 
has  declined  for  the  past  twelve  years,  it  is  the  fault 
of  British  manufacturers  themselves,  and  that  the 
Germans  have  under-sold  and  beaten  us  out  of  the 
Chilian  market  in  a  large  number  of  articles  of  con- 
stant consumption  in  which  we  were  formerly 
masters  of  tlie  field.  They  make  good  medium 
and  inferior  goods,  and  measure  the  market  with 
such  accuracy  that  they  are  all  promptly  sold." 

This  accuracy  in  "  measuring  the  market  "  brings 
US  to  note  the  great  assistance  German  commerce 
derives  from  the  action  of  their  Ciovernment  and  its 
officials.  A  Government,  which  w^e  are  taught  to 
believe,  is  only  intent  on  turning  its  subjects  into 
soldiers,  in  reality  strains  every  nerve  to  assist  the 
foreign  trade  of  the  country.  Whereas  with  us 
hitherto  we  have  not  only  let  our  conunercial  classes 
look  after  themselves,  but  discouraged  consular  re- 


MT 


256 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


ports,  the  German  consular  reports  are  collected  and 
published  all  over  the  country.  In  England  even  a 
consular  report  can  supply  a  handle  for  mean  party 
warfare,  and  this  instructive  report  of  Mr.  Thomas 
above  referred  to  is  only  the  result  of  a  criticism 
in  Parliament  on  a  previous  report  of  the  same 
cveutleman.  No  wonder  our  consuls  shirk  publish- 
ing what  is  only  a  means  of  getting  them  into  hot 

water. 

Our  Foreign  Office  need  not  fear  German  annexa- 
tions, but  we  cannot  let  Manchester  have  its  way 
any  longer  as  hitherto  ;  our  administrators  must 
condescend  to  supply  us  with  information,  even  if 
they  decline  to  support  our  trade  interests  when- 
ever they  might  legitimately  do  so. 

AVe  have  been  informed,  that  when  the  Chinese 
ambassador  went  to  Berlin,  even  Bismarck  himself 
"  condescended  "  to  try  and  influence  him  to  place 
a  large  contract  for  steel  rails  with  a  German  firm ! 
And  die  inventor  of  steel  rails,  Sir  Henry  Bessemer, 
although  a  born  German,  lives  in  our  midst ! 

Although  the  Germans  hardly  possess  a  shipping 
yard  that"  could  turn  out  a  first-class  ocean-going 
passenger  steamer,  they  compete  with  us  success- 
fully as  goods  and  passenger  carriers.  This  is 
perhaps  the  most  striking  instance  of  all  of  their 
talent  for  "  adaptability."  They  order  their  ships  on 
the  Clyde,  and  gauge  so  well  what  they  require 
that  their  newest  American  liners  can  hold  their 
own,  if  not  even  beat  the  best  of  our  own  in  speed. 
Since  tlie  North  German  Lloyd's  has  started  a  line 
of  steamers  to  East  Asia,  they  now  compete  success- 


I 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE.  257 

fully  with  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  line. 
The  Sadism  left  Hono-komx  on  March  20,  '"6%. 
and  caught  the  P.  &  0.  steamer  Kaisar-i-Himl 
^t  Port  Said,  although  the  latter  had  left  Hongkonir 
^  week  after  the  Sachsen.  The  averaue  run  of  the 
.Sachsen  was  14J  knots  an  hour,  whereas  the 
P.  &  O.  are  only  obliged  by  contract  to  steam  1 1 
Jvnots  an  hour.  But  not  in  speed  alone  does  the 
North  German  Lloyd's  compete  with  us  :  their  fares 
4ire  cheaper,  and  as  for  general  comfort,  a  passenger, 
writing  in  the  Loudon  ami  China  Telctjraph,  of 
•July  23,  '^S,  tells  us  that  the  attention,  cooking, 
and  general  regard  for  comfort  are  all  that  could  be 
desired,  and  decidedly  superior  to  the  same  items  on 
the  French  ships  on  the  same  line. 

IV. 

Thus  the  capacity  or  genius  of  "adaptability," 
-combined  with  an  extraordinary  concentration  and 
earnestness  of  purpose,  wliich  ever  shows  itself  down 
to  the  meanest  details  of  commercial  life,  is  one  of 
the  most  striking  causes  of  recent  German  com- 
mercial success.  It  is  a  quality  that  strikes  the 
more  readily,  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  some 
•great  nations  seem  to  be  singularly  destitute  of  it. 
The  Italians,  it  is  true,  have  of  late  shown  great 
commercial  energy,  and  many  branches  of  manufac- 
ture have  sprung  up  and  adapted  English,  French, 
and  German  methods  and  models  where  they  used 
formerly  to  rely  almost  solely  on  importation  or 
inferior  home-made  articles. 

s 


258 


JMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


Bat  the  French  are  an  instance   in   point  of  a 
areat  producini^  country  that  rarely  goes  out  of  its. 
way  to  seek  nioilels  or  ideas  beyond  its   frontier. 
Subversive  in  politics,  the  French  are  wonderfully 
conservative  in  trade.     They  are   patriotic  to  the 
decree  of  hardly  seeming  to  wish  ev^n  to  proht  by 
foi^eicn  enterprise.     Their  mission    is  to  propagate 
their"  own  xpecialMs  tie  fahriqm;  as  it  has  long  been 
their    privilege    to    promulgate   their    pet   theories. 
Herein  the  French  are  in  marhed  contrast  to  the 
Russians,  who  possess  the  capacity  of  adapting  and 
assimilating  to  a  remarkable  degree.      Although  yet 
in  their  infancy  as  producers,  another  generation  or 
two  will  reveal  their  powers  of  rivalry. 

Not  only  in  the  quality  of  commercial  adaptability 
is  to  be  found  the  explanation  of  Germany's  success. 
The  patronage  and  support   of   its  Government,  so- 
strange  to  our  principles,  we  have  referred  to ;  the 
thorouMi  commercial  education  of  its  merchants,  its 
clerks,°and  the  careful  training  and  superior  education 
of  its  workmen,  supply  us  with  additional  evidence. 
Besides  a  complete  theoretical  commercial  training,, 
German  clerks  in  their  own  country  usually  speak 
French  and  English,  and  a  great  number  of  those 
that  come  abroad  have  mastered  Italian  and  Spanish 
as  well       German  merchants  are  to  be  found  all  over 
"the  world,  taking  rank  beside  our  own.  The  training  of 
their  clerks  can  be  seen  in  the  City  of  London,  where 
they  oust   the  native  element.     Mr.  Goschen   has 
been  criticized  for  saying  that  they  took  more  pride 
in  their  work  than  our  clerks  do,  and  are  more  con- 
centrated on  it.     But  anybody  passing  the  lioyal 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE.         259 

Excliange  at  the  moment  one  or  otherof  our  great  races 
are  being  run  for,  and  noticing  the  enormous  crowd 
of  City  men  congregating  to  hear  tlie  result,  can  look 
for  himself  wliether  there  are  any  Germans  anionsr 
tliem !  *  Tliey  are  distinguished  by  sobriety,  industry, 
and  intelligence,  and  make  these  qualities  imperative 
in  those  that  would  compete  with  them.  This  is 
the  case  particuharly  in  England  and  America,  and 
is  becoming  so  in  h>outh  America,  Japan,  and  in  our 
colonies  more  every  day. 

In  these  points  we  are  at  a  disadvantage;  as 
in  thrift,  hard-^^lodding  commercial  training,  let 
alone  tlie  knowledge  of  foreign  languages,  our  com- 
mercial classes  are  distinctly  inferior  to  theirs. 

We  are  thoroughly  alive  to  the  excellent  quali- 
ties of  the  much  maligned  British  workman,  but 
his  defects  and  his  disadvantages  tell  more  against 
him  and  ns  now  than  before. 

We  do  not  condemn  trades-unions  ;  in  a  country 
believing  in  the  gospel  of  Manchester  they  were  an 
iron  necessity  of  self-defence,  but  their  conservatism 
and  the  obstinacy  of  their  policy,  by  which  they 
oppose  every  innovation,  has  often  done  us  more 
harm  than  their  demands  for  high  wages.  Also  the 
want  of  thrift,  of  self-respect,  inseparable  from  the 
lower  education  and  meaner  social  standimj  of  the 
I>ritish  workman,  handicap  us  sadly,  though  this  is 
being  improved.    These  items  go  a  long  way  towards 


*  The  great  proportion  of  foreign  (mostly  German)  firms  in 
the  City  of  London  is  well  known,  and  is  in  so  far  explained  by 
their  close  attention  to  business. 

S   2 


26o 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


nullifying  otlier  advantages  we  undoubtedly  possess. 
We  think  it  was  the  late  Mr.  Brassey  who  gave  it 
as  his  opinion  that  the  British  workman  more  than 
earned  his  higher  wages  by  the  greater  value  of  his 
labour.  That  may  still  hold  good  of  unskilled 
manual  labour,  but  in  all  kinds  of  labour  that  are 
influenced  by  education  and  by  the  moral  character 
of  the  workmen,  our  working  men  cannot  claim  any 
superiority,  either  over  Germans,  French,  or  Italians. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  readily  understood 
that  the  cry  for  technical  education,  which  we  hear 
on  all  sides,  will  not  suffice  to  counterbalance  many 
of  the  advantages  over  us  the  Germans  undoubtedly 
possess.  But,  even  bearing  these  in  mind,  we  think 
the  notions  that  prevail  in  (lermany  with  regard 
to  their  latter-day  commercial  achievements  are  exag- 
gerated ones. 

V. 

In  general,  it  may  thus  be  said  that  a  certain  lack 
of  originality  of  taste  and  production  in  commerce  goes 
hand°in  hand  with  their  skill  in  adapting  the  ideas 
of  others,  if  the  one  be  not  actually  an  outcome  of 
the  other.  It  is  not  likely  that  they  will  be  found 
to  agree  with  this  statement,  but  it  is  one  that 
can  be  proved  up  to  the  hilt,  over  and  over  again. 
Their  new  Patent  laws,  which  are  excellent,  provide 
efficient  protection  for  their  ideas,  and  yet  we  seldom 
come  across  a  patented  practical  (i.e.,  commercial  as 
distinct  from  scientific)  invention  in  Germany,  but  it 
turns  out  to  be  of  English  or  American  origin. 


COMMERCE  A  AD  MANUFACTURE, 


25l 


Tlie  sudden  prosperity,  or  rather  liabit  of  money- 
spending,  that  set  in  after  '70  caused  a  great  in- 
crease of  production  everywhere,  but  brought  forth 
little  taste  and  next  to  no  originality.  Everybody 
went  back  to  the  past  for  models — to  the  Middle 
Ages  for  metal  work,  in  which  the  Germans  ever 
excelled ;  and  to  the  periods  of  renaissance  and  ro- 
coco for  many  other  branches  of  production.  There 
was  certainly  some  ex[)la nation  for  this  turning  to 
the  past.  It  was  a  time  of  national  excellence  in 
art  industry.  Yet  even  in  those  days  the  good  Ger- 
mans were  slavish  copyists  of  the  Italians,  except, 
perhaps,  in  the  one  solitary  instance,  when  Marc 
Antonio  (Ilaimondi)  pirated  the  engravings  of  an 
Albrecht  Diirer. 

But  this  gleaning  from  the  past  did  not  stop  half- 
way and  adapt  itself  to  modern  requirements.  It 
often  became  ridiculous  by  slavishly  reproducing 
the    old    angular     unpractical     designs    of    bygone 


ages. 


Assisted  by  their  excellent  trained  designers,  the 
Germans  have  made  great  strides  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  furniture.  Also  the  importation  of  French 
furniture — a  large  business  formerly — has  almost 
entirely  ceased,  whereas  the  Germans  now  export 
largely  to  France  and  elsewhere.  Their  success  in 
this,  as  in  several  other  trades,  has  been  assisted  by 
the  many   German   skilled  workmen   who  were  in 


*  Architecture  must  be  excepted  from  the  above  strictures. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  where  the  greater  trained  artistic  faculties 
come  into  play,  the  Germans  generally  excel. 


262 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


II' 


Paris  before  '70,  and  have   since  returned  to  their 

own  country. 

The  best  furniture  makers  of  Berlin,  Mayence, 
and  Stuttgart  produce  excellent  goods,  and  little  can 
be  said  against  them  on  the  score  of  solidity  of  work- 
manship or  price.  But,  whereas  the  English  endea- 
vour to  combine  lightness  with  solidity,  the  Germans, 
here  as  elsewhere,  are  noted  for  a  heavy  awliward- 
ness  of  style,  for  which  even  the  excellent  carving 
and  turning  of  some  of  their  work  offer  no  sulhcient 

atonement. 

Leaving  out  the  fields  of  science  as  before  men- 
tioned, we  are  of  opinion  that,  besides  want  of 
originality,  the  German  possesses  little  practical 
ability  or  taste  as  a  producer.*  It  is  very  rarely 
you  meet  w^ith  an  article  in  Germany  that  is  practi- 
cally fitted  for  the  end  in  view^ 

A  glance  at  the  German  pottery  trade  will  bear 
this  out,  for  even  their  excellent  schools  for  designers 
have  not  as  yet  been  much  use  to  them  in  this 
branch  of  production. 

Although  Germany  was  the  first  country  in  Europe 
in  which  china  was  made,  it  lias  long  been  distanced 
in  its  production  by  France  and  England.  Dresden 
and  Berlin,  the  two  oldest  manufactories  in  Europe, 
with  all  the  prestige   of    Boyal    origin    and    Boyal 


*  It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that  this  want  of  practical 
ability,  noticeable  at  home,  does  not  appear  among  Germans 
abroad.  They  soon  adopt  English  and  American  practical 
methods,  and  even  excel  in  them,  as  also  as  inventors.  Sir 
Henry  Bessemer,  inventor  of  steel  rails,  is,  as  said  already,  a  born 
German. 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE,         263 

initiative,  have  done  little  else  than  live  on  an  old 
reputation,  and    that    reputation   of   a   second-rate 
linikin    kind.      Both  these  factories,  except  for  the 
curiosity    of    their    old    models    of    rococo    figures, 
surely  at  best  a  trumpery  application  of  the  ceramic 
art,  are  simply  nowhere.     And  yet  these  antiquated 
styles    are    the    staple   fund  of   inspiration  of  the 
numberless  fancy  china  makers  all  over  the  country, 
particularly  in  Saxony.      They  are  copied  to  death, 
down  to  the  vilest  imitations.      The  old  pieces  of 
Dresden,  Berlin,  &c.,  as  being  unique,  have  an  anti- 
quarian hric-a-hrac  value  in  the  eyes  of  collectors ; 
but  if  nowadays  an  elaborate  dinner  service  for  a 
thousand  guineas,  or  an  expensive  presentation  orna- 
ment is  wanted  in  the  world's  market,  it  is  usually 
•ordered  of  an  English  or  of  a  French  factory.      The 
Erench  factory  at  Sevres  even  to-day  produces  works 
of  ceramic  art  that  are  far  beyond  anything   Ger- 
many has  ever  produced.     That  the  productions  of 
Sevres  in  the  past  were  incomparably  supeiior  to 
anything  Germany  ever  attempted,  is  too  well  known 
to  require  substantiation. 

The  potteries  of  Silesia  and  Bavaria  find  a  large 
liome  market  for  their  goods— thanks  to  Brotection 
— although  they  are  mostly  clumsy  in  pattern  and 
■coarse  in  material:  in  fact,  very  inferior  to  the 
Austrian  same  class  article.  But  a  large  amount  of 
the  better  class  pottery  used  in  Germany  is  made  in 
Luxemburi^,  in  Sarreguemines,  as  w^ell  as    imported 

from  France. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  this  special  branch 
•of  manufacture,  in  which  the  Germans  had  the  first 


ijiiHi'  .Biaii:ii; 


264 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


start  of  all  others,  and  in  which  they  have  long  beem 
renowned  for  cheapness,  they  have  not  succeeded  ia 
point  of  excellence — a  fact  sufficiently  proved  by 
their  inability  to  supply  the  best  foreign  market  with 
articles  for  use  or  for  ornament  to  any  appreciable: 
extent.  They  do  a  large  business  in  pottery  with 
America  and  England  and  the  Colonies,  but  almost 
only  in  medium  and  inferior  goods. 

We  can  distinctly  trace  the  benefit  the  Germans 
derive  from  their  excellent  trained  designers  to  be  con- 
fined to  those  industries  where  artistic  conventional 
ornamentation  alone  is  required.  Prom  the  moment 
the  article  wanted  is  one  in  wdiich  the  designer  is 
required  to  adapt  his  artistic  knowledge  to  the  pro- 
duction of  some  original,  practical  design,  he  gene- 
rally fails.  In  this  respect,  the  national  art  in- 
dustry schools  have  hitherto  helped  him  but  little. 
This  want  of  practical  ability  is,  perhaps,  one  of  the 
reasons  why  the  German  instinctively  turns  abroad 
for  practical  models  as  well  as  for  ideas,  and  is  forced 
to  import    a    quantity  of  articles  he  is  unable  tO' 

produce. 

The  want  of  practical  ability  in  the  nation  is. 
abundantly  proved  by  the  almost  mediaeval  cha- 
racter of  their  beds,  with  those  dreadful  feather 
counterpanes  {^lumeanx),  and  also  by  their  strange- 
regardlessness  of  the  laws  of  health  in  the  lack  of 
ventilation  in  their  houses. 

Although  we  hear  so  much  about  the  cutlery  of 
Solingen  and  their  barefaced  imitations  of  English 
goods,  it  is  a  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  German 
carpenters,    locksmiths,     cabinet-makers,     &c.,    usa 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE. 


265 


English-made*  tools.  It  w%as  reserved  for  an  English 
cheese-paring  Government  to  order  the  swords  for 
its  cavalry  in  Solingen,  with  results  that  are  as  well 
known  as  they  are  instructive. 

One  of  the  largest  tug  steamship  companies  of 
Germany,  the  "  Kette,"  on  the  Elbe,  has  to  employ 
English  labour  for  soldering  the  tug-chains  it  uses^ 
or  to  set  them  soldered  in  England. 


VI. 


We  have  endeavoured  to  point  to  some  instances 
in  which  German  commerce  has  fairly  competed 
with  our  own,  even  when  profiting  by  and  copying 
our  methods.  We  must  now  take  note  of  some 
instances  in  wiiicli  their  talent  for  "  adaptation  "^ 
leads  to  dow^nright  piracy,  and  even  fraudulent  imi- 
tation. Not  that  we  intend  to  reproach  the  Germans 
as  a  nation  w^ith  the  dishonesty  of  sections  of  their 
traders,  or  think  them  less  scrupulous  than  our- 
selves. The  fact  is,  our  laws  w^re  hitherto  too  lax,, 
and  the  Germans  too  quick  to  avail  themselves  of 
their  laxity.  We  should  do  the  same  if  the  con- 
ditions allowed  of  our  doing  so  with  success.t  We- 
know  too  well  that  a  certain  percentage  of  humanity 
of  every  land  and  clime  is  equally  ready  to  turn  an 
"  honest "  penny  by  doubtful  means.  And  when  we 
are  able  to  turn  German  ideas  to  account  without 


*  A  large  number  of  agricultural  implements  ara  imported  into 
Germany  from  America.  The}'  are  less  clumsy,  more  serviceable^ 
and  cheaper  than  the  German  article. 

"I"    On  p.  269  we  supply  an  instance  in  point. 


266 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


COMMERCE  Ai\D  MANUFACTURE. 


267 


l^aying   for   them,   we    do    it    as   readily  as   they; 
witness  our  piracies  of  German  theatre  pieces,  and 
of  other  property  of  an  intellectual  or  artistic  kind. 
Still,  it  is  the  duty  of  our  laws  to  check  where  we 
■cannot  change  the  sordid  side   of   human   nature; 
and,  bearing  this  in  mind,  it  is  not  without  reason 
we  state  the  opinion  that  the   CJerman  talent   for 
adaptation,  for  producing  colourable  imitation,  and 
their  great  want   of  originality  in  commerce,  place 
their  manufacturers  in  stronger  temptation  than  our 
own  to  seek  their  designs,  their  models  and  patterns 
in  other  countries,  and  thus  occasionally  to  trade  on 
the  ideas  of  others,  to  a  degree  that  is  as  astounding 
as  it  is  stoutly  denied  in  the  Fatherland. 

Not  only  this,  but  the  loose  construction  of  the 
•German  laws  for  the  protection  of  trade-marks  and 
designs  {Mmtcr  Schutz)  is  very  often  productive  of 
injustice  among  themselves  as  well  as  to  the  foreigner, 
which  can  never  have  been  contemplated  by  the 
high-ndnded  men  who  framed  them. 

^If  their  Eegistration  system  does  not  work  won- 
ders in  protecting  their  own  "  geistiges  Eigenthum  " 
{cuKjlid,  mental  property)  among  each  other,  it  .is 
not  surprising  that  it  affords  little  protection  when 
the  "  mental  property  "  pilfered  hails  from  beyond 
the  sea — namely,  from  England. 

The  commercial  envy  which  is  such  a  living 
quality  among  large  sections  of  the  population  of 
the  Fatherland,  conies  to  assist  the  interpretation  of 
laws  perhaps  too  loosely  defined,  and  the  English 
complainant  is  generally  non-suited. 


VII. 

A  case  of  imitating  the  trade-mark  of  the  well- 
known  Englisli  cotton-thread  makers,  l>rooks  Bros, 
{a  goat's  head),  is  still  under  consideration  before 
the  Leipsic  law  courts. 

The  German  adaptations  in  the  cutlery  trade  were 
the  subject  of  lengtliy  newspaper  discussions  during 
the  past  year.  Among  numberless  other  cases,  the 
Bkcffidd  Weekly  Telegraph  of  April  2,  1887,  gave 
fac-similes  of  German  (Solingen)  imitations  of  Messrs. 
John  Xowill  and  Sons'  celebrated  cutlery.  The  pack- 
ages were  identical,  witli  the  exception  that  Xowill 
was  spelt  "Xo^^iill,"  and  Shettield  changed  to 
"  Shemfeld."  If  such  manoeuvres  be  sufhcient  to 
steer  clear  of  the  charge  of  intentional  fraud  in  the 
German  law  courts,  all  we  can  say  is,  it  may  be 
law,  but  it  is  not  our  idea  of  equity  ! 

The  following  extract  from  the  Engineer  will  be 
read  with  interest : — 

''  Importation  of  British  Marked  Goods. — There 
is  no  mystery  about  the  importation  of  British 
marked  ooods  from  abroad.  The  Custom-House 
autliorities,  although  anxious  enough  to  do  what  is 
right  in  the  interests  of  just  trading,  have  managed 
by  one  of  their  General  Orders,  dating  back  to  1883 
— which  came  into  force  in  January  1884 — to 
arrange  their  regulations  so  as  practically  to  favour 
the  foreigner.  By  the  39  &  40  Vict.  c.  -^6  (1876), 
it  was  prohibited  to  import  goods  bearing  any  name, 
brand,  or  mark  of  English  manufacture.      This  sec- 


268 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


I 


tion  was  altered  in  1883  to  'name  and  brand/ 
*name  and  place.'  Acting  under  this  order,  the 
Customs  authorities  decline  to  notice  such  goods  as 
do  not  hear  both  name  and  place,  or  name  and 
brand,  though  the  marks  put  upon  them  point 
directly  to  intent  to  deceive.  For  example,  goods 
may  come  in  marked  '  Ihown's  Steel,'  or  '  Joseph 
Eodgers  and  Sons'  Cutlery,'  though  not  an  ounce  of 
the  steel  was  made  by  Brown,  and  the  cutlery  was 
never  inside  the  famous  '  No.  6.'  A  Sheffield  steel 
firm,  finding   that   their  steel   was   being   imported 

into  this  country  marked  ' 's  steel,'  brought  the 

fact  under  the  notice  of  the  Custom  House.  They 
contended  that,  their  name  being  a  registered  trade- 
mark, the  goods  ought  to  be  seized  on  importation. 
The  Custom  House  decided  against  them,  and  for- 
warded a  copy  of  the  General  Order.  It  would  be 
interesting  to  know  why  the  provision  of  the  Act  of 
1876  was  overridden  by  tliis  General  Order,  which 
seems  to  have  widely  opened  the  door  for  fraudu- 
lent dealing.  Imitation  may  be  the  sincerest  form 
of  flattery,  but  this  class  of  compliment  is  ex- 
pensive." 

The  far-famed  name  of  Iiodgers  is  also  imitated 
as  "  Ptotgens "  along  with  the  firm's  mark  of  the 
Maltese  cross  and  star. 

Another  remarkable  instance  is  the  case  of  Curtis 
and  Harvey's  gunpowder,  the  descriptive  label  of 
which  has  been  closely  imitated  in  both  colour  and 
design,  the  only  difference  being  that  the  name 
Curtis  is  spelt  '*  Cubtis,"  and  the  name  Harvey  is 
spelt ''  Marvey,"  but  so  printed   that  to   a   foreign 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE, 


269 


purchaser   the  changes   would    be    hardly    notice- 
able.* 

Now,  although  an  Act  of  Parliament  was  ])assed 
last  year  that  makes  the  importation  of  such  goods 
no  longer  easy,  still  our  colonies  are,  as  before,  open 
to  them.  Tliis  shows  our  culpable  neglect,  when 
passing  the  Merchandise  Marks  Act,  of  not  getting 
the  co-operation  and  adhesion  of  India  and  our 
colonies.  Colonial  merchants  will  often  buy  the 
greatest  rubbish,  and  now  that  these  fraudulent 
imitations  can  no  longer  be  shipped  from  British 
ports,  we  lose  the  carrying  trade  as  well.  There 
ought  to  be  no  time  lost  in  rectifying  this  state  of 
things,  if  possible. 

Another  instance  of  imitation,  although  not  of  a 
fraudulent  character,  may  be  mentioned  here. 

A  little  town  in  Saxony  (Wurzen)  does  a  large 
business  in  fancy  biscuits.  Althougii  the  name  of 
Huntley  and  Palmer  is  not  used,  the  denominations, 
the  packages,  and  the  very  articles  themselves  are 
imitated  exactly,  and  sell  all  over  the  country,  whilst 
the  importation  of  the  original  article  is  hampered 
by  a  Protective  duty.  We  must  even  be  thankful 
if  the  imitation  does  not  oust  the  English-made 
biscuits  from  our  colonies. 


*  The  above  facts  are  partly  taken  from  the  evidence  of  the 
Select  Committee  on  the  Merchandise  Marks  Acts  (1862),  pub- 
lished in  September  1887.  And  it  is  only  fair  to  note  that  it 
disclosed  evidence  of  English  cutlers  stamping  their  razors 
^'  Warranted  Hamburg  ground,"  and  other  proofs  of  our  con- 
tention that  honesty  of  unrestrained  human  nature  is  much  the 
same  everywhere. 


270 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


Besides  the  articles  already  referred  to,  we  could 
cite  many  others.  The  CJermans  copy  the  water- 
marks of  onr  best  paper-makers,  they  even  imitate 
the  packages  and  denominations  of  our  fancy  note- 
paper.  Birmingham  steel  pens  likewise  claim  their 
attention.  Our  fancy  soaps  and  all  sorts  of  per- 
fumery are  but  stray  items  picked  out  at  random 
among  an  endless  catalogue  of  piracy.  But  the  worst 
that  can  be  said  of  German  productions  they  have 
said  theniselves — namely,  that  their  goods  are  sold 
as  English  ;  thus  they  are  admittedly  imitations 
and  not  original. 

If  we  look  closer  at  German  manufacturers,  we 
find  that  they  fail  uniformly  to  reach  the  highest 
standard  to  be  met  with  in  this  and  other  countries. 
Also  the  large  importation  of  their  goods  has  had 
a  deteriorating  efiect  on  the  public  taste,  though  it 
has,  in  many  instances,  put  our  own  makers  on  their 
mettle.  They  have  made  the  public  and  the  producer 
consider  cheapness  before  everything  else. 

Besides  copying  the  English,  they  honour  other 
nations  with  equal  attention.  Whatever  is  brought 
out  in  Vienna  in  the  special  trades  the  Viennese 
excel  in — fancy  bronzes  and  leather  goods — is  im- 
mediately copied  in  Offenbach  and  elsewhere. 

American  sewing  machines  are  kept  out  by  Ger- 
man imitations.  The  so-called  articles  dc  Paris  of 
the  past  almost  all  hail  from  Berlin  now,  even  in- 
cluding an  enormous  trade  in  ready-made  costumes. 
Not  that  there  is  anything  illegitimate  in  this  ;  but 
they  even  adopt  the  Erench  names  and  styles  of 
perfumes,  of  the  celebrated  liqueurs  "  Benedictine  " 
and  "  Chartreuse,"  and  sell  imitations   in   bottles — 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE,         271 

exact  copies  of  the  Erench  article.     But  the  list  is 
practically  inexhau  stible. 

It  seems  strange,  indeed,  that  in  a  country  whose 
officials  are  such  models  of  high-minded  rectitude 
and  duty,  whose  thinkers  and  men  of  science  stand 
so  high,  such  slavish  imitations  in  commerce  should 
be  so  common.  Eor  it  is  mainly  in  certain  fields  of 
commerce,  that  are  closely  aUied  to  science,  such  as 
chemistry,  electricity,  and  the  manufacture  of  scien- 
tific instruments  and  artillery,  that  the  Germans 
excel.  In  chemistry  they  have  made  some  of  the 
most  remarkable  inventions  in  our  time,  only  to 
mention  salicylic  acid,  saccharine,  &c.  Also  their 
chemical  factories,  and  those  of  Austria,  are  legiti- 
mately beating  us  in  this  branch  of  commerce.  In 
these  instances  doubtless  the  natural  bent  of  the 
national  mind  for  science  and  their  unrivalled 
technical  schools  go  for  something,  whereas,  in 
so  many  other  branches,  they  are  little  better  than 
imitators  of  an  inferior  but  earnestly  painstaking 
kind.  It  is  hard  to  have  to  say  that  the  people 
who  gave  mankind  the  greatest  discovery  of  the  age 
— the  spectroscope  of  Kirchhof  and  Ikinsen — are 
the  arch  commercial  jjirates  of  our  time ! 

Some  years  ago  the  Prussian  Government  sent 
Prof.  Pteuleaux  as  their  commissary  to  report  on 
some  distant  international  exhibition.  On  his  re- 
turn he  startled  the  Eatherland  with  the  verdict 
that  German  goods  were  distinguished  by  being 
uniformly  cheap  and  nasty  {hillui  vnd  scJdcchf). 
This  created  a  great  stir  at  the  time,  and  may  have 
been  a  somewhat  exaggerated  verdict  ;  but  tliere 
w\^s     some     truth    in    it,    and   matters    have    not 


272  IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 

materially   changed   since,   altliougli  many  patriots 
fondly  pretend  that  they  have. 

It  is  not  that  the  (lermans  are  alone  in  producing 
Tubbish — every  commercial  nation  does  the  same ; 
but  the  (lermans  have  a  special  faculty  for  copying 
the  rubbish  of  other  nations,  besides  producing  their 
own, 

VIII. 

Besides  imitating  everything  foreign,  whether  an 
idea  or  a  mere  pattern,  the  Germans  trade  on  each 
other's  ideas  to  an  extent  that  is  perhaps  unequalled 
in  the  world.  In  fact,  were  it  not  for  the  restrain- 
ing influence  of  their  somewhat  unpractical  "  Muster 
Schutz  "  laws,  it  would  be  even  worse  than  it  is. 

Hardly  has  a  certain  "brew"  of  beer  gained 
public  favour,  than  other  brewers  adopt  as  similar 
denominations  as  the  law  will  admit.  The  Munich 
beers  are  all  the  rage  now,  and  although  the  law 
prohibits  the  direct  advertisement  of  Munich  beer 
when  the  decoction  liails  from  Berlin,  the  brewers 
^et  round  it,  by  advertising  their  product  as  brewed 
according  to  Munich  "  manner  "  {Miinchncr  Art). 

Some  years  ago  a  certain  Dr.  Jaeger  travelled 
•about  the  country  holding  lectures  to  popularize 
Jiis  system  of  woollen  clothing,  and  recommending 
patterns  of  his  own  design  made  by  a  certain 
-Stuttgart  maker.  His  propaganda  created  a  great 
■demand  for  the  article,  which  was  at  once  copied 
by  several  rival  makers,  who  adopted  his  designs 
^nd  denominations. 

Although  not  strictly  commercial,  the  following 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE, 


273 


is  a  propos.  Some  years  ago  a  delightful  sketch  of 
Berlin  middle-class  town  life,  "  Die  Familie  Buch- 
holz,"  by  Julius  Stinde,  achieved  great  popularity 
and  ran  through  many  editions.  It  will  scarcely 
be  believed  that  the  very  title  was  pirated  by  a 
compatriot — not  by  an  Englishman  or  a  Frenchman 
— and  a  book  was  offered  to  the  public  under  the 
title  of  the  "  Buchholz  Family  in  I^aris  !  " 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  Offenbach 
imitations  of  English  and  Viennese  leather  goods 
patterns ;  for  the  Viennese  are  far  ahead  of  the 
Germans  in  fancy  leather  goods,*  as  they  are  also 
in  artistic  bronzes.  But  it  does  not  stop  here  ;  the 
Berlin  leather  workers  copy  the  Offenbachers,  and 
undersell  them  in  the  cheaper  German  home  market. 
The  manufacturers  of  Offenbach  evidently  think 
there  is  nothing  like  leather,  for  some  of  their 
leather  goods  are  among  the  few  German  articles 
that  seem  fairly  able  to  compete  with  English-made 
ones,  and  the  trade  between  Offenbach,  England, 
and  America  is  very  large  indeed. 

In  jew^ellery  a  novelty  is  brought  out  in  Hanau 
— as  often  as  not  the  copy  of  an  English  or  French 
idea — and  is  hardly  shown  to  the  German  trade  as 
"  the  ne\vest  thing  out,"  before  it  is  already  copied 
on  a  cheaper  scale  in  Pforzheim  and  hawked  all 
over  tlie  country.  The  French,  as  is  well  known, 
only  allow  one  standard  of  gold  for  jewellery — 
namely,  that  of  1 8  carats.     The  jewellers  of  Hanau 

*  The  above,  although  strictly  true,  may  need  some  qualifica- 
tion, Inasmuch  as  the  South  Germans  are  lately  producing  goods 
in  embossed  leather  which  need  fear  no  comparisons. 

T 


274 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


and  rforzheim  set  no  limits  to  the  alloy  they 
employ,  many  of  their  articles  hardly  deserving 
the  name  of  gold  at  all. 

As  in  gold,  so  in  fancy  silver-work.  It  is  of  a 
much  lower  standard  than  our  own.  The  designs 
are  as  clumsy  as  the  material  is  generally  thin  and 
poor.  The  styles  are  mostly  slavishly  adapted  from 
mediaeval  or  old  rococo  designs,  if  they  are  not  of 
late  borrowed  from  military  ornamentation  and 
emblems,  and  are  devoid  of  grace  and  originality. 
Fortunately,  our  silver  hall-mark  law  presents  the 
importation  of  cheap  German  silver  goods,  a  bless- 
ing to  be  devoutly  thankful  for. 

German  silver-plated  goods  have  long  had  a  bad 
name,  but  it  will  be  news  to  many  that,  notwith- 
standing the  continuous  beating  of  the  patriotic 
turn-turn,  the  Paris  house  of  Cliristoile  exports  a 
large  amount  of  plated  goods  to  (Germany.  This 
house  has  one  of  the  finest  shops  in  r>erlin,  and 
probably  does  a  larger  business  in  Germany  than 
any  half-a-dozen  German  silver-plate  manufacturers 
combined.  Even  in  this  second-rate  branch  of 
trade,  if  we  take  the  precious  metals  themselves  as 
lirst-rate,  the  Germans  not  only  fail  to  compete 
abroad,  but  cannot  hold  their  own  at  home. 

Yet  cheapness  and  underselling  are  their  main 
resource.  Cheapness  is  tlie  explanation  of  the  tons 
of  English  printing  done  in  Germany.  And  partly 
also  this  applies  to  the  colour  printing,  oleography, 
&c.,  of  wdiich  waggon  loads  come  to  this  country 
from  Leipsic.  The  Kate  Greenaway  style  has  been 
worked  out  in  Germany.     Though  in  these  speci- 


COMMERCE  AND  MANUFACTURE.         27$ 

:alities  a  qualification  must  be  made.  The  technical 
excellence  of  the  German  work,  it  may  be  said, 
;goes  hand  in  hand  with  cheapness  in  this  particular 
instance. 

The  process  of  copying  and  underselling  each 
other  is  observable  in  almost  every  German  trade, 
:and  prodiices  a  keenness  of  competition  often  of  a 
kind  that  is  far  from  elevating. 

No  wonder  the  Germans  are  continually  com- 
plaining of  over-production.  But,  as  the  only  thing 
that  is  eternal  is  change,  so  the  Germans  may  well 
look  forward  with  hope  to  the  future  as  likely  to 
hr'mg  them  more  independence  of  ideas  in  com- 
merce, as  our  time  has  already  brought  them  national 
independence.  The  consciousness  of  the  latter 
must,  sooner  or  later,  react  on  their  manufac- 
turing industry,  but  it  will  not  do  so  in  the  short 
space  of  time  it  was  expected.  A  nation  that  for 
•generations  had  been  accustomed  to  look  abroad  for 
many  things  besides  manufactured  articles,  cannot 
^11  of  a  sudden  create  an  original  supply  for  its 
\vants  all  along  the  line. 

In  the  meantime,  it  must  be  a  source  of  gratifi- 
-cation  to  all  well-wishers  of  the  Fatherland,  that 
the  splendid  penal  laws  against  adulteration  of  food 
liav^e  preserved  this  one  vital  branch  of  human  pro- 
duction in  Germany  from  the  scandalous  manipu- 
lations we  constantly  witness  in  our  own  country 
and  in  America. 


T  2 


(    276    ) 


THE  GERMAN  PRESS, 


277 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  GERMAISr  PRESS. 

Er  liigt  wie  gedruckt.*— P(?pM?ar  saving. 

I. 

Junius  was  of  opinion  that  Englishmen  should 
sooner  give  up  their  Parliament,  the  responsibility 
of  their'^Ministers,  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act,  even  the 
ric^ht  of  taxing  themselves,  than  surrender  the  free« 
dom  of  the  press ;   for  that  alone  would  bring  back 

all  these  boons. 

Many  Englishmen  would  be  prepared  to  subscribe 
to  that  even^now,  but  few  Germans.  They  fear  the 
power  of  journalism,  but,  as  a  rule,  do  not  respect 
it.  Not  that  the  German  press  is  one  whit  less  hon- 
ourable and  self-respecting  than  our  own,  but  the 
German  temperament  does  not  look  upon  "  print ' 
witli  the  same  awe  that  we  do.  As  shown  by  the 
popular  saying,  "  He  lies  like  print,"  the  critical 
German  mind  instinctively  feels  with  Bismarck, 
when  he  said  in  the  Eeichstag,  February  6,  1888  : 

«  As  far  as  the  press  is  concerned,  I  cannot  attach 
any  decisive  weight  to  it.     They  say  in  llussia  it 

*  He  lies  like  print. 


means  more  than  in  France.  I  am  of  the  opposite 
opinion  ;  in  France  the  press  is  a  power  that  in- 
Ihiences  the  decisions  of  the  Government ;  in  llussia 
it  is  not  the  case,  nor  can  it  be ;  but  in  both  cases 
the  press  is,  in  my  eyes,  only  printing-ink  on  paper, 
against  which  we  do  not  war.  For  us  there  can  lie 
no  challenge  in  such  materials.  Behind  every 
article  in  the  press  there  is  but  one  individual,  who 
handles  the  pen  in  order  to  publish  this  article  to 
the  world  ;  the  same  in  a  Eussian  paper — let  us 
assume  it  is  an  independent  Eussian  paper  that  is 
in  connection  with  French  secret  funds,  that  is 
perfectly  immaterial.  Tlie  pen  that  indites  therein 
an  anti-German  article,  has  nobody  at  its  back,  but 
he  who  holds  it  in  his  hand,  the  single  individual, 
who  produces  this  lucubration  in  his  study,  and  the 
protector  that  a  Eussian  paper  usually  possesses, 
some  high  official  who  has  got  entangled  in  party 
politics,  and  who  perhaps  happens  to  grant  this 
paper  his  protection,  both  weigh  but  as  a  feather 
against  the  authority  of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor 
•of  Eussia." 

The  above  sentiments,  not  only  Bismarck  but 
Germans  in  general  apply  to  the  press  of  every 
country  more  or  less,  and  hence  the  German  press 
never  had,  and  never  will  have,  the  power  the  press 
wields  with  us.  This  leads  us  to  believe  that  the 
Germans  as  a  nation  are  much  more  mentally 
phlegmatic  than  ourselves.  Although  perhaps 
more  nervously  irritable  and  excitable  in  some 
ways,  their  judgment  is  more  sober  and  placid; 
they  think  more  for  tiiemselves  than  we  do. 


278 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


A  German  will  road  a  violent  newspaper  article^ 
and,  instead  of  being  carried  away  by  it,  like  one  of 
ourselves,  will  say  to  himself :  "  That  is  written  by 
that  virulent  rascal  X ;  what  can  be  the  matter  with, 
him  to-day  ?"  On  the  other  hand,  he  will  casually 
read  a  journalistic  opinion  at  variance  with  his  own 
from  mere  intellectual  curiosity,  where  an  English- 
man w^ill  studiously  avoid  reading  any  paper  but  the 
one  holding  his  own  views,  and  will  generally  blindly 
adopt  the  views  of  his  favourite  paper,  even  if  they 
happen  to  differ  from  his  own.  The  German  reader- 
retains  his  independence  of  judgment  far  more,  and 
will  unhesitatingly  stop  taking  in  a  paper  whose- 
views  no  longer  suit  him. 

The  late  Emperor  William  could  never  again  he- 
induced  to  look  at  the  Kmiz-Zcitmig  after  it  had  once- 
taken  a  line  that  offended  him,  though  this  single 
act  was  strangely  at  variance  with  that  great  and 
good  man's  character,  always  so  free  from  every 
personal  feeling  of  resentment. 

The  Berlin  National  Zeitung,  for  instance,  in  one 
day  lost  thousands  of  readers  when  it  adopted  a  line 
of  its  own  that  did  not  agree  with  their  views.  The 
journalistic  tactics  that  are  so  common  with  us,  of 
advocating  what  we  previously  opposed,  are  decried 
in  Germany,  and  looked  upon  as  proofs  of  want  of 
principle  {Mangel  an  Uchcrzcngnng).  A  newspaper 
that  avowedly  changes  its  views  with,  or  in 
advance  of,  the  current  of  public  oj^inion,  would 
wield  little  influence  in  Germany,  its  opinion  would 
not  command  respect  or  weight.  The  journalistie. 
ambition    of    shaping    public     opinion — admirably 


THE  GERMAN  PRESS. 


279 


as    it    works    in    this    country — does   not    succeed 

there. 

In  their  anxiety  for  "conscientious  conviction" 
they  often  are  exaggerated  and  unpractical,  and 
become  Frinc^ncnreitcr — i.e.,  men  that  ride  about 
on  a  broom  labelled  "  Ueberzeugungs  treue  "  (Fidelity 
of  conviction  !)  The  Liberal  politician  who  before 
the  battle  of  Sadowa  had  dared  to  hint  at  the 
possibility  of  Bismarck  being  in  the  right,  was 
morally  a  dead  man.  The  same  fate  awaited  him 
who  twelve  years  ago  dared  to  find  fault  with  the 
notorious  May  Laws  against  the  Eoman  Catholics 
that  are  condenmed  to-day  by  all  parties  1 

Also,  they  carry  far  more  personal  feeling  into 
their  political  opinions  than  we  do,  and  journalists 
of  opposite  ways  of  thinking  are  not  always  ready 
to  give  their  opponents  that  credit  for  honesty  of 
purpose  we  invariably  concede,  except  in  reference 
to  Irish  aflairs.  In  the  latter  we  come  very  near  to 
German  virulence  and  invective,  as  to  which  the 
following  is  an  example  taken  at  random  from  the 
next  papers  at  hand. 

A  polemic  between  the  Democratic  Franlfort 
Gazette  and  Bismarck's  organ,  the  North  German 
Gazette,    yields     the     following     amiable     buds    of 

rhetoric : 

"  When  some  weeks  ago  the  North  German  Gazette 
undertook  to  cast  a  vile  aspersion  on  the  Franlfort 
Gazette,  and  we  in  return  accused  that  sheet  of 
shameless  lying,  the  voluntary  Government  organ 
quietly  pocketed  the  accusation.  We  were  not  sur- 
prised at  this,  as  there  is  no  accounting  for  tastes. 


28o 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


Still,  we  could  hardly  have  expected  that  the  North 
German  Gazette  would  have  the  barefacediiess  to 
bring  up  that  same  lie  again!" — (Extract  Franhfort 
Gazette,  July  24,  1888). 

Pretty  severe  this,  but  the  North  German  Gazette 
had  aggravated  its  original  aspersion  by  coolly 
stating  that  the  Frankfort  Gazette  was  not  a  German 
paper  at  all !  Now,  as  that  influential  journal  is 
the  property  of  a  Jew,  that  was  distinctly  hitting 
below  the  belt,  and  calculated  to  exasperate  the 
party  receiving  the  blow !  Bismarck's  own  organ, 
the  North  German  Gazette,  seems  to  have  a  rather 
lively  time  of  it,  for  almost  on  the  same  day  we 
find  the  ultra-Conservative  New  Cross  Gazette  de- 
claring it  to  be  "  impertinently  arrogant,"  "  untruth- 
ful," and  again  "  impertinent  " ! 

Yes,  political  partisanship  in  tlie  press  is  very 
violent  in  Germany,  the  Prussian  Conservative 
papers,  in  their  blind  hatred  of  everytliing  Liberal, 
attacking  even  those  harmless  and  charitable  con- 
vivialists,  the  Freemasons.  The  Liberal  and  Demo- 
cratic press  become  figuratively  black  in  the  face 
at  the  mere  reference  to  a  Prussian  feudalist,  and, 
sad  to  say,  many  are  the  journalistic  elements  in 
the  Fatherland  who  would  welcome  a  humiliation 
to  Bismarck,  even  if  it  included  an  injury  to  the 
country.  Thus  party  politics  show  no  more  amiable 
characteristics  in  Germany  than  with  us. 

Bismarck's  estimate  of  the  press  has  been  re- 
ferred to,  but  in  its  manipulation  he  shows  his 
usual  skill.  The  master  mind,  that  has  used  all 
parties  and   in  turn  cast  them  in  the  shade,  plays 


THE  GERMAN  PRESS. 


•281 


sad  havoc  with  German  journalistic  conscientious 
fads.  He  drives  his  opponents  wild.  He  uses  his 
press  organs  either  to  coax  or  to  threaten,  to  butter 
or  to  bully,  to  draw  a  red  herring  across  their  path, 
or  to  set  up  a  scarecrow  in  their  fields.  It  is  all 
the  same — it  invariably  answers  the  purpose  he  has 
in  view.  ^ 

Some  months  ago  all  Europe  was  kept  in  a  state 
of  anxiety  by  a  general  cry  of  the  German  Govern- 
ment press  that  the  Piussians  were  massing  troops 
on  their  eastern  frontiers.  To-day  all  is  silence  or 
sugar  on  that  subject,  and  although  not  a  Cossack 
has  since  been  withdrawn  from  the  frontiers,  any 
paper  venturing  to  hint  at  Russian  troops  would  be 
roundly  accused  of  either  trickery  or  want  of 
patriotism  !  "  That  is  how  it  is  done,"  as  a  popular 
conjuror  used  to  say  at  each  fresh  feat  of  sleight-of- 
hand. 

Xow  and  then,  lately,  tliey  see  through  it,  and 
when  the  North  German  Gazette  is  unusually  "  ram- 
pa.i:jeous,"  and  the  Cologne  Gazette  joins  in,  it  is 
generally  understood  that  the  tum-tum  at  the  vil- 
lage fair  is  being  beaten.  Something  is  coming,  and 
soon  we  shall  be  invited  by  the  "  strong  man  "  at 
the  booth  to  hurry  up,  pay  our  coppei's,  and  see  him 
throw  his  hundredweights  in  the  air,  swallow  fire, 
and  otherwise  prove  again  and  again  that  he  is  tlie 
strongest  man  alive,  and  the  rest  of  humanity  mere 
blackbeetles. 


I 

T 


282 


i 


I 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


II. 


Thirty  years  ago  our  press  possessed  nearly  its 
present  power,  and  that  of  Prance  numbered  some 
of  her  most  brilliant  pens  as  contributors.  In  those 
days  the  press  of  Germany  was  in  a  very  backward 
condition,  its  news  of  antediluvian  flavour,  and  its 
commercial  enterprise  equal  to  0  +  0  =  0. 

The  last  tw^enty  years  have  wrought  a  great 
change  in  this  as  in  so  many  other  matters.  Al- 
though tlie  press  is  hardly,  as  with  us,  the  road  to 
fame  or  fortune  (except  in  very  rare  eases),  although 
few  men  of  known  literary  attainments  contribute 
to  it  (with  rare  exceptions),  to-day  it  is  an  energetic 
exponent  of  public  opinion,  its  news  is  almost  as 
varied  as  our  own,  and  although  without  much 
political  influence,  it  is  carried  on  on  broad  com- 
mercial principles. 

Germany  does  not,  like  England,  possess  one  in- 
tellectual and  political  capital,  but  rather  a  number 
of  such,  and  thus  no  one  expose  of  opinion  could 
possibly  command  the  influence  or  enjoy  the  circula- 
tion possessed  by  any  of  our  great  daily  papers.  The 
Eerlin  newspapers  permeate  the  north  of  Germany, 
but  Saxony  clings  with  strong  local  feeling  to  those 
of  Leipsic  and  Dresden.  The  ]>reslau  j)apers  are  read 
in  Silesia  and  Eastern  Prussia,  the  Color/nc  Gazette 
circulates  princijially  in  the  west,  besides  a  large 
foreign  circulation,  and  the  Frcmlfort  Gazette  is  read 
all  over  the  south,  which  possesses  only  one  other 
paper  of  note — the  AUgeineine  Zcitiivg  of  Munich. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  no  strong  cen- 


THE  GERMAN  PRESS, 


285 


trality  in  the  press,  as  with  us  ;  for  although  one  or 
two  of  the  Berlin  papers  may  be  the  most  widely 
circulated,  no  single  one  of  them  (perhaps  excepting 
the  National  Geizette)  has  the  political  or  literary 
standing  of  one  or  two  provincial  papers.  Also- 
certain  of  these,  including  the  Vienna  Free  Press* 
have  a  nipre  diffused  circulation  all  over  the  country 
than  any  Berlin  paper,  the  best  of  which  is  perhaps 
the  National  Gazette. 

Although  no  German  newspaper  can  be  men- 
tioned for  commercial  enterprise  beside  English  or 
American  leading  journals,  yet  there  are  a  few  that 
have  outstripped  all  home  competitors  in  this  respect. 
These  are  the  BerUner  TagcUatt,  the  FranJcfort 
Gazette,  and  the  Vienna  New  Free  Press.  These 
three  are  all  owuied  by  .Tews,  and  are  an  indirect 
testimony  to  the  commercial  aptitude  of  that  race. 

(ierman  newspapers  are,  unlike  our  own,  mostly 
taken  in  regularly  by  subscription,  and  taken  in 
this  way  cost  about  as  much  as  our  own  penny 
dailies,  whilst  some  of  them  appear  as  often  as  three 
or  four  times  a  day,  in  morning,  afternoon,  and 
evening  numbers,  with  various  supplements. 
Bought  singly,  they  are  two  to  three  times  dearer. 
The  system  by  which  all  German  papers  can  be 
ordered,  paid  for,  and  delivered  through  the  post- 
oftice,  works  admirably.  As  the  price  of  the  news- 
papers does  not  exceed  the  cost  of  paper  and  print - 


*  Although  in  reahty  Austrian,  this  paper  must  be  considered 
German  in  the  same  sense  that  many  other  things  in  Austria  are 
German. 


284 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


ing,  their  principal  income,  like  our  own,  is  derived 
from  advertisements,  and  hence,  like  our  own,  they 
cannot  afford  to  offend  the  interests  that  advertise, 
or  take  an  independent  line  that  might  jeopardize 
their  circulation.  Hence,  like  our  own,  German 
newspapers  are  forced  to  adhere  to  the  plain  com- 
mercial principles  that  alone  enable  them  to  exist. 
To  increase  their  circulation  almost  all  German 
papers  adopt  the  fcuillet on  with  its  anecdotal  gossip, 
and  many  of  them  are  forced  to  publish  serial  stories, 
as  that  has  a  greater  power  of  gaining  subscribers 
than  any  other  literary  merit  or  loftiness  of  purpose 
or  principle. 

III. 

From  a  literary  point  of  view,  there  is  a  great 
difference  between  German  papers  and  our  own. 
In  that  peculiar  form  of  leader- writing,  that  talent 
for  grouping  of  ideas  which  enables  them  to  put  a 
question  superficially,  but  pithily  and  clearly,  before 
the  reader,  so  cleverly  that  he  almost  loses  sight  of 
the  fact  of  its  being  written  from  a  party  stand- 
point (and  thus  without  impartial  intellectual  value), 
the  Germans  cannot  compare  with  the  English. 
Also,  as  graphic  reporters  of  passing  events,  the 
field  of  the  special  correspondent,  they  cannot  com- 
pare with  English  or  American  writers. 

On  the  contrary,  in  the  dispassionate,  thorough 
rdsumd  of  a  question  as  well  as  in  criticism,  par»- 
ticularly  on  art  and  science,  they  surpass  us.  Pass- 
ing over  those  sheets  that  seem  principally  to  live 
on  a  continual  round  of  political  squabbling,  there 


THE  GERMAN  PRESS, 


28s 


are  some  papers— notably,  the  Munich  AUgemcinc 
Zcitung — that  not  only  reach   a   high  standard  of 
literary  excellence,*  but  also  combine  a  rare  impar- 
tiality of  opinion  with  serious  breadth  of  treatment. 
The  Allgemeine  Zcitung  is  one  of  the  few  German 
papers   that  has  traditions.      It  was    formerly  pub- 
lished in  Augsburg,  and  to  its  colunms  the  poet  Heine 
contributed  his  well-known  Paris   letters.      Also  it 
has  hitherto  withstood  the  temptation  of  adding  to 
its  circulation  by  the  introduction  of  the  feuilleton. 
In    fact,    we  cannot    but  consider    the    Allgemeine 
Zeitung  an  ornament  and  a  credit  to  the  journalism 
of  the  country.      Eor  solidity  of  information  on  the 
topics   it  touches,   it  is   shnply   unrivalled   among 
daily   papers,  and  reminds   us  in   tliis  of  some  of 
our   best   Peviews    without  their   party    bias.       It 
contains  more  solid  intellectual  information,  as  dis- 
tinct from  news,  than  any  paper  we  know  of.     Daily 
it  brings  exhaustive  articles,  sometimes  in  a  series, 
on  all  sorts  of  topics  of   cosmopolitan  interest,  and 
the  reader  is  sure  to  learn   something  on  whatever 
subject  it  treats.     In  London  it  is  only  in  the  leading 
papers  that  we  find  now  and  then  special  articles, 
mostly  reviews,  of  a   similar   exhaustive  character. 
The  following  headings  of  leading  articles,  taken  at 
random  day  by  day,  will  enable  the  reader  to  judge 
of  the  scope  of  its  matter :  ''  Prussia's   Agricultural 
Administration  in  the  years  1884-87;"  "The  In- 
undations  of   Hwangho  "  (giving  a  graphic  descrip- 


*  In  this  respect  the  Berlin  Xatlonal  Zcituvg  also  deserves 
to  be  mentioned  ;  many  of  its  articles  are  signed  by  the  wniers. 


286 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


THE  GERMAN  PRESS. 


287 


tion  of  tlie  inundations  of  this  great  Chinese  river 
durino;  the  last  thousand  years,  and  its  bearins:  on 
the  civilization  of  the  country) ;  "  The  Constitution 
of  Japan  ; "  "  King  Louis  I.  of  Bavaria,  as  the  Edu- 
cator of  his  People,"  &c.  ifec. 

Many  of  these  articles  are  signed,  run  through 
several  numbers  of  the  paper,  and  come  from  the 
pen  of  well-known  authorities  on  the  subjects  they 
treat  of. 

That  a  paper  of  the  stamp  of  the  Allgcmcine  Zei- 
tung  must  be  a  popular  educator  as  well  as  a  means 
of  keeping  its  readers  conversant  with  the  current 
news  of  the  day,  goes  without  saying  ;  and  we  can 
only  express  the  wish  that  some  capitalists  could 
«ee  their  way  to  start  a  newspaper  on  similar  lines 
in  England. 

The  main  typical  distinction  between  our  papers 
-and  those  of  Germany  consists  in  the  feidlleton  — 
it  includes  the  matter  printed  under  the  black  line 
that  runs  horizontally  across  the  middle  of  the 
paper.  Although  often  devoted  to  sensational  or 
other  novels  and  personal  anecdotes,  notes  on  art 
and  literature,  it  also  includes  serious  criticisms  of 
'Current  art  topics.  Pictures,  theatres,  and  above  all 
music,  are  treated  and  criticized  in  the  feuilleton  ; 
although  the  value  of  German  criticism  on  pictures 
"is  disputed,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  invariable 
excellence  of  the  average  theatrical  and  musical 
articles.  In  fact,  a  regular  perusal  of  them  is 
almost  a  liberal  education  on  these  subjects. 


IV. 

Let  us  take  last  a  point  of  view  of  journalism 
that  journalists  are  fond  of  presenting  to  us  before 
all  else — the  moral  aspect.  With  regard  to  the  pub- 
lication  of  indecent  tales  and  anecdotes,  the  German 
press  stauils  far  purer  than  the  French.  A  paper 
that  would  publish  a  serial  story  such  as  "  La  Terre  " 
of  Zola,  which  appeared  first  in  the  Gil  Bias  (and 
was  even  confiscated  in  Ptussia),  would  be  seized 
immediately  and  excluded  henceforth  from  every 
respectable  household. 

In  regard  to  the  publication  of  obscene  trials,  the 
concise  laws  on  the  subject  remove  the  most  enter- 
prising newspaper  proprietors  out  of  the  reach  of 
temptation.  The  public  is  excluded  from  such 
trials,  and,  although  the  press  is  admitted,  the  law 
ordains  that  no  press  reports  of  such  trials  are 
allowed,  except  with  the  consent  of  the  Court,  and 
after  perusal  of  such  reports  by  the  State  advocate. 

There  are  some  people  left  in  Germany  who  think 
these  officials  are  more  likely  to  know  what  is  good 
for  public  consumption,  than  enterprising  news- 
paper proprietors. 

The  powers  possessed  by  the  Court  are  certainly 
liable  to  be  arbitrarily  used,  it  is  true ;  as  they  go 
beyond  the  right  of  forbidding  the  publication  of 
indecency,  they  apply  to  high  treason  and  other 
matters  ;  these  may  be  some  of  the  disadvantages  of 
paternal  government,  but  the  high  character  of  the 
German  bench  is  a  sufficient  guarantee  against  bias 
and  undue  influence ;  and  after  all,  the  benefit  of  the 


288 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


THE  GERMAN  PRESS, 


2S9 


I 


community  being  safe  from  sewer  filtli  and  floodiiiir, 
.  is  very  great  and  cannot  be  paid  for  too  dearly! 
The  idea  of  a  discretionary  limit  of  publicity  endan^ 
gering  the  liberty  of  the  subject  nowadays  is  only 
one  fit  for  the  nursery. 

There  are  also  here  and  there  a  few  Germans  left 
who  think  it  a  doubtful  testimony  to  a  country's 
institutions  to  have  to  admit  that  its  vilest  abuses 
can  only  hope  to  be  remedied,  and  its  filth  to  be 
cleansed  away,  by  the  action  of  the  press. 

The  German  press  has  not  yet,  in  its  self-con- 
sciousness, come  to  regard  itself  as  the  Augean  stable- 
cleansing  Hercules  of  the  community.  The  CJermans 
look  abroad,  and  do  not  feel  impressed  by  the  success 
of  the  press  in  that  character  in  other  countries. 
However  dreamy  and  unpractical  they  may  be  in 
some  matters,  they  have  common  sense  enough  to 
suspect  an  indignation  the  source  of  which  do'iibles 
the  circulation,  for  the  time,  of  the  righteous  organ 
of  public  opinion. 

The  one  moral  blot  on  German  journalism  is  the 
character  of  its  advertisements  ;  they  are  not  always 
above  suspicion,  though  flagrant  cases  of  impropriety 
are  rare.  Still,  in  the  advertisement  columns  of  the 
German  press,  the  petty  spirit  of  hatred,  spite,  and 
slander  of  the  Philistine  airs  itself.  Anonymous 
attacks  on  personal  character  are  occasionally  met 
with  such  as  an  English  jury  would  deal  with  severely. 
But  this  occurs  more  in  places  outside  the  main 
stream  of  national  life,  in  places  where  the  press  is 
intellectually  poor,  spiteful,  and  contemptible.  There 
we  find  sheets  that  appeal  to  every  local  prejudice. 


alternately  cringing  and  slandering,  blatant  with 
beery  patriotism  whilst  living  on  envious  tittle-tattle 
and  scandal.  Wherever  such  sheets  are  found,  it  is 
interesting  to  note  the  want  of  healthy  public  life, 
the  low  state  of  morality  of  the  population,  and  the 
underground  spread  of  Socialism  among  the  w^orking 
classes.  Thus,  if  a  sound  press  be  not  always  an 
infallible  mentor  of  public  morals,  a  vicious  news- 
paper is  a  certain  indicator  of  popular  corruption  ! 

One  tendency  of  the  German  press  merits  re- 
probation :  the  proclivity  to  comment  on  cases  8uh 
jndicc,  in  contrast  to  the  English  press,  which,  in 
this  respect,  is  well  restrained.  But  while  on  im- 
portant matters  restriction  is  advisable,  needless 
interference  is  certainly  irritating  and  impolitic. 
It  is  a  question  whether  even  Bismarck  might  not, 
in  some  instances,  have  magnanimously  followed 
the  example  of  Frederick  the  Great,  who,  when 
offensive  pasquils  were  issued  against  him,  would 
order  the  placards  to  be  put  lower  down  on  the 
walls,  that  the  people  might  read  them  the  more 
easily. 

We  have  referred  to  the  strong  personal  and 
passionate  character  of  the  CJerman  press  to-day, 
but  we  cannot  conclude  without  a  word  of  admira- 
tion for  its  tone  during  the  war  of  1870-71.  It 
was  worthy  of  a  great  nation.  Its  earnest  tone, 
totally  removed  from  bounce  and  bluster,  in  those 
days  was  as  admirable  as  some  of  its  excess  of 
passion,  when  dealing  with  internal  party  politics 
to-day,  is  to  be  regretted. 


u 


(      290      ) 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION, 


291 


t' 


^••;m 


1 


CHAPTEE  XIY. 

SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION. 

If  circumstances  lead  me,  I  will  find 

Where  truth  is  hid,  though  it  were  hid  indeed 

Within  the  centre. 


Shaksi'kaue. 


I. 


We  have  striven  to  point  to  a  few  characteristics 
of  Germany  in  the  present  day.  In  conchision,  we 
will  endeavour  to  review  our  impressions  and  add  to 
them.  For  we  believe  that,  without  being  blind  to 
its  social,  political,  and  other  shortcomings,  there 
is  much  in  Germany  to-day  of  the  deepest  interest 

to  us. 

Far  be  it  from  our  thoughts  that  Germany  i^5 
ever  destined  to  distance  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in 
the  competition  for  the  world's  markets.  The  mass 
of  the  German  people  Itardly  possess  that  aggressive 
vitality  that  has  made  the  English  race  the  pioneers 
of  colonization  all  over  the  world.  Though  they 
spare  no  pains  in  tapping  trade,  if  hard  work  can 
do  it,  they  are  not  the  people  to  throw  away  human 
lives,  and  above  all  money,  in  order  to  secure  remote 
ultimate  commercial  results.     If  this  has  to  be  done 


on  any  large  scale,  it  will  soon  mark  the  limits  of 
their  trans-oceanic  enterprise. 

The  present  preponderant  position  of  Germany  is 
owing  to  her  great  men,  to  the  organization  they 
have  effected,  and  to  the  excellent  qualities  of  the 
race  that  have  made  that  organization  possible. 
But  these  qualities  are  not  likely  to  distance  the 
Anglo-Saxon  in  the  long-run. 

Even  the  great  strides  Crcrmany  has  made  in 
trade  do  not  for  a  moment  lead  us  to  believe  that 
it  threatens  any  serious  injury  to  us.*  Their  tem- 
porary spurt  of  advantage  will  find  its  level,  and 
will  have  helped  to  quicken  our  efforts  to  improve 
our  methods  and  make  the  most  of  the  many  natural 
advantages  we  possess.  In  the  meantime,  it  is  neces- 
sary for  us  to  see  clear  and  derive  profit  from  so 
doing.  The  Germans  have  profited  enormously  by 
studying  us ;  it  is  now  our  turn  to  profit  by  study- 
ing them.     We  can  do  so  all  along  the  line. 

In  the  first  place,  we  must  remember  we  are 
treating  of  a  country  which,  up  to  witliin  the  last 
twenty  years,  was  in  many  material  respects  genera- 
tions behind  us,  and  the  government  of  wliich  has 
since  been  carried  on  according  to  principles  very 
much  at  variance  with  those  by  which  we  in  England 
are  guided.  We  have  heard  of  a  poor,  police-ridden, 
tax-choked  population,  groaning  under  the  terrible 
military  blood-service,  suffering  from   tlie   evils   of 


*  Already  therd  are  signs  of  its  falling  off,  and  of  failure  to 
regulate  prices  and  encourage  export  by  so  doing.  Protection 
does  not  come  up  to  expectation,  although  it  may  not  have 
turned  out  the  ruin  rabid  Cobdenites  would  propbo«y. 

U   2 


292 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION. 


293 


commercial  protection,  cursing  the  onerous  conditions- 
of  its  existence,  and  turning  with  longing  eyes  to 
our  happy  shores  to  admire  within  them  the  abodes 
of  prosperity  and  freedom.  Lastly,  we  hear  that 
this  nation  is  gagged  to  such  an  extent  that  it  can- 
not even  openly  complain  of  its  misery. 

It  is  true,  in  Germany  some  limits  are  placed  on 
platform  oratory  and  "talk;"  also  the  somewhat 
autocratic  manner  of  German  officials  generally  in 
their  dealings  with  the  public  is  not  such  as  we 
should  wish  transplanted  to  our  shores.  But 
a<^ainst  these,  and  sundry  other  shortcomings,  many 
striking  advantages  can  be  noticed. 


11. 

We  have  found  a  nation  on  a  high  level  of  edu- 
cation, and  of  healthy  material  prosperity,  and 
whose  best  sons  are  imbued  with  a  rare  ideality 
of  aim  and  purpose.  The  people  are  animated  by  a 
sense  of  (Uity  and  an  earnest  devotion  to  work,, 
which  are  hardly  to  be  surpassed  in  the  world.  In 
this  sentiment  every  difference  of  creed  and  party 
is  submerged,  until  it  forms  a  paramount  law  of 
ethics  of  universal  practical  application.  We  seo 
this  particularly  in  the  honesty  of  the  administra- 
tion of  the  country  as  well  as  in  the  high  standard 
of  rectitude  and  honour  observable  in  all  the  educated 

notably   in  the   professional   classes.       It  is   the 

noral  force  underlying  all  this  that  is  more  instruc- 
tive than  any  outward  success,  which  is  merely  its 
result. 


We  have  found  an  absence  of  pauperism,  of 
'drunkenness,  and  other  forms  of  degradation,  as 
striking  as  they  are  pleasant  to  note. 

The  physical  appearances  of  the  male  population 
when  compared  with  that  of  Austria  and  France, 
.shows,  particularly  in  the  North,  a  healthy,  sturdy, 
manliness  of  bearing  that  is  i)artly  due  to  the 
beneticial  hygienic  efl'ects  of  universal  military  ser- 
vice. Also  the  observer  is  met  almost  everywhere 
by  outward  evidences  of  progress  and  prosperity. 

lierlin,  that  only  numbered  100,000  inhabitants 
at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  and  hardly  half 
a  million  in  '70,  possesses  now  a  population  of 
1,200,000  souls. 

The  Berlin  University,  only  founded  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  century,  to-day  boasts  the  tlitc  of  intel- 
lectual Germany  in  its  staff  (^f  }>rofessors,  and  attracts 
the  greatest  number  of  students  of  any  German 
Universitv — over  four  tliousand. 

Whole  suburbs  have  sprung  into  existence — to 
the  west,  consisting  of  beautiful  private  houses ;  else- 
where, factories  and  works  have  arisen,  re-echoing  the 
sound  of  the  hammer  and  anvil  and  steam.  The  town 
that  only  yesterday  was  noted  fur  its  monotonous, 
lifeless  streets,  has  now  outstripped  every  town  in 
Europe,  except  London,  in  the  plenitude  of  its  bustle 

and  life. 

Public  buildings,  such  as  the  head  post-office,  the 
new  town-hall,  the  different  barracks,  strike  the  eye 
by  their  vast  dimensions,  and  the  new  lieichstag 
buildinor  when  finished  bids  fair  to  become  the 
grandest  building  of  its  kind  in  the  world. 


294 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


SUMMARY  AX D  COXCLUSION. 


29S 


Nor  does  Berlin  stand  alone  in  the  outward  signs 
of  increased  prosperity.  Towns,  such  as  Frankfort- 
on-the-Main,  Munich,  Magdeburg,  Breslau,  Stutt- 
gart, Carlsruhe,  Cologne,  Dusseldorf,  Dresden,  and 
many  others,  have  wonderfully  improved  in  appear- 
ance, as  also  gained  in  material  riches.  Everywhere 
new  streets  of  palatial  buildings  have  risen,  and 
there  are  now  dozens  of  towns  in  Germany  the 
shop-windows  of  which  could  vie  with  any  in 
England  outside  London. 

Hamburg,  the  Venice  of  the  North,  has  become 
one  of  the  linest  towns  of  Europe.  Over  ;£^8, 000,000 
have  been  expended  upon  her  harbour  and  ware- 
houses ;  and  her  commercial  activity  can  be 
gauged  by  the  one  fact,  that  within  the  last  few 
years  she  has  outstripped  London  as  a  coffee  mart. 

As  for  Strasburg,  German  rule  in  ten  years  has. 
done  more  than  the  Erencli  did  in  two  hundred. 
The  New  L^niversity  building  is  alone  well  worth  a 
visit  to  see. 

Modern  public  buildings  of  every  description  in 
(jlermany  show  a  grandeur  and  solidity  of  monu- 
mental architecture  rarely  met  with  elsewhere. 
That  the  soldiers'  barracks  to  be  found  in  almost 
every  large  town  are  gigantic  structures  w411  surprise 
no  one.  In  towns  such  as  Berlin,  Dresden,  and 
Munich,  they  form  almost  separate  qnarticrs  of 
their  own.  But  it  is  the  cleanliness  and  order  that 
particularly  strike  the  eye.  The  town-halls,  the 
post-othces  particularly,  and  even  the  police- 
stations,  and  the  prisons  of  even  second-rate 
towns,  are  mostly  imposing  edifices  and  models  of 


order  and  cleanliness.  Even  the  day-schools  arc 
large  buildings,  uniting  excellent  practical  accommo- 
dation with  chaste  architectural  style. 

The  theatres  of  towns  such  as  Dresden,  Erank- 
fort,  Leipsic,  Berlin,  and  many  others,  hardly  need 
a  word  of  encomium  on  the  score  of  their  elegance 
and  solidity.  Whetlier  large  or  small,  their  con- 
struction and  administration  are  such,  that,  whereas 
hundreds  of  lives  have  been  lost  by  theatre  fires  in 
England,  France,  Italy,  Austria,  and  even  in  America, 
during  the  last  twenty  years,  no  such  misfortune  has 
happened  in  Germany. 

Those  who  look  closer  for  indirect  evidences  of 
healthy  national  life,  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with  the 
excellent  municipal  organization  that  regulates  town 
life.  Everywhere  unexceptionable  order  and  clean- 
liness have  replaced  the  old  sleepy  conditions  of  the 
past.  Part  of  this  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  very 
superior  class  of  men  from  whom  are  chosen  the 
mayors  and  town  councillors  of  the  larger  German 
cities.  Men  such  as  von  Forckenbeck,  mayor  of 
Berlin,  Dr.  Migitel,  the  mayor  of  Frankfort-on-the- 
Main,  and  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  National  Liberal 
party,  have  undoubtedly  done  much  to  raise  the 
character  of  municipal  administration  in  Germany.* 

The  splendid  bridges  over  the  Ilhine  and  other 
rivers  are  notable  instances  of  excellence  of  design 
combined  with  solidity  of  work.  The  railway  stations, 
even  of  towns  such  as  Hanover  and  ]\Iagdeburg  and 


*  As  an  instance  of  the  healthiness  of  municipal  government 
in  Germany,  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  the  Berlin  mimicipality 
closed  the  last  financial  year  with  a. surplus  of  ;{;i9i,ooo. 


296 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION. 


297 


Strasburg,  are  beyond  anythiug  we  have  to  show 
outside  London;  wliilst  Berlin,  Munich,  and  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main  each  possess  a  station  on  a  larger 
scale  than  our  largest — the  Midland,  at  St.  Pancras. 
The  Frankfort  Station — the  largest  in  the  world — 
covers  an  area  of  33,852  square  yards,  and  is,  we 
believe,  a  third  larger  than  St.  Pancras.  It  cost 
over  ;^i, 500,000,  half  of  which  was  contributed  by 
the  State,  and  the  other  half  by  the  town. 

Everywhere,  o'er  hill  and  dale,  are  to  be  found 
fresh  evidences  of  the  vital  energy  pulsating  through 
every  artery  of  the  country.  Even  country  roads 
are  uniformly  kept  in  such  order  as  contrasts  strongly 
with  the  fate  of  some  of  our  splendid  old  highways 
since  the  introduction  of  steam. 

III. 

Turning  from  these  outward  tangible  evidences  of 
national  life,  we  faid,  on  closer  examination,  that  the 
population  itself  is  far  better-ofl'  than  we  were 
accustomed  to  believe.  If  the  happiness  of  a  people 
be  judged  by  its  savings,  the  German  masses  seem 
to  stand  almost  as  well  as  the  Enirlish  of  their  own 
class.  According  to  statistics,  there  are  105  million 
pounds  sterling  in  German  savings-banks,  whereas,  in 
English  savings-banks  there  are  only  80  millions. 
And  this  does  not  include  the  numerous  small 
investors  in  German  Government  Stock,  a  class 
(until  lately,  through  the  Post  Othce  Savings-Bank)' 
practically  non-existent  in  England. 

According  to  another  series  of  statistics,  the 
wealth   of  England   is    calculated    as    representing 


i^249  to  each  inhabitant,  whereas  every  German  is 
only  credited  w^ith  ;^I40.  Now  if  it  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  enormous  fortunes  of  England 
are  practically  unknown  in  Germany,  that  in  fact 
incomes  even  of  a  thousand  a  year  are  compara- 
tively rare  there,  the  above  quoted  average  nmst 
show  a  high  standard  of  income  for  the  masses  of 
the  population. 

Aristotle  said,  long  ago,  that  the  salvation  of  a 
country  in  a  crisis  must  lie  in  its  middle  classes : 
in  their  increase  lies  its  hope  of  permanence  and 
prosperity.  The  tendency  with  us  is  to  increase 
property  in  the  hands  of  a  few  individuals,  leaving  an 
impoverished  middle  class,  and  cutting  off  the  hope  of 
the  poorer  classes  ever  rising  into  the  middle  class. 

The  problem  of  the  moment  is  to  prevent  this 
accumulation  of  immense  fortunes  in  few  hands, 
and  to  spread  the  wealth  throughout  the  country. 
This  problem  the  Germans  seem  to  be  in  the  way  of 
solving  more  satisfactorily  than  we  are. 

But,  however  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  the 
number  of  individuals  with  a  reserve  of  money 
saved  is  out  of  all  proportion  great  in  Germany  to 
what  it  is  with  us.  The  small  shopkeeper,  the 
mechanic,  and  even  the  working  man,  have  pleasures 
and  en joyments  within  their  reach  from  which  their 
English  brothers  are  all  but  debarred.  They  partici- 
pate in  the  same  amusements  as  the  higher  classes 
— such  as  public  concerts,  theatres,  and  operas,  that 
are  within  the  reach  of  the  slenderest  purse. 

We  are  told  that  the  German  working  classes 
suffer  by  protection,  and  it  is  a  sad  truth  that  wheat 
is  30  per  cent,  dearer  in  Geriuany  than  in  England. 


298 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION. 


299 


Still,  bread  is  liardly  dearer  in  Germany  than  with 
us,  and  certainly  it  is  far  purer.  It  is  unadulterated ! 
One  reason  why  Germany  is  better  able  than  we  are 
to  bear  the  strain  of  a  protective  tariff'  in  food 
stuffs  may  be,  that  small  peasant  proprietors  form 
comparatively  such  a  large  body  of  the  people. 

If  wages  are  generally  lower  than  with  ns,  on 
the  other  hand  the  people  are  more  thrifty  ;  they 
make  their  money  go  farther,  particularly  their 
wives  do  ;  and  such  necessaries  as  beer  and  tobacco 
are  not  only  cheaper  than  in  England,  but  they 
are  unadulterated.  The  great  expansion  of  trade 
in  the  country  during  the  two  last  decades  has 
circulated  vast  sums  of  money  among  the  working 
classes,  which  are  far  better  paid  than  a  genera- 
tion ago.  For  instance,  in  Munich  tlie  wages  of 
builders,  plasterers,  masons,  carpenters  and  others, 
have  for  some  time  been  as  high  as  ever  they  were 
with  us,  although  it  must  be  confessed  that  this  is 
an  exception.  Also  the  emigration  of  skilled  labour 
has  largely  decreased  of  late,  notwithstanding  the 
alleged  baneful  results  of  protection  to  trade.  Tlie 
American  Nation  lately  significantly  noted  this 
fact,  and  attributed  it  to  the  marked  improvement 
in  the  laws  dealing  wiih  the  well-being  of  the  Ger- 
man labouring  classes. 

How  comes  it  then,  will  be  asked,  if  so  many 
things  are  satisfactory  in  Germany,  that  a  party 
such  as  the  Social  Democrats,  bent  on  the  subver- 
sion of  everything  existing,  has  so  many  followers 
that  it  has  been  able  to  send  over  twenty  of  its 
Tepresentai^Lves  to  the  Eeiclistag.  ?     How   comes   it 


that  CJermany  is  forced  to  use  such  repressive 
measures  against  the  Socialists,  that  towns  such  as 
Berlin,  Leipsic,  Hamburg,  Stettin,  Frankfort,  Offen^ 
bach,  &c.,  are  proclaimed  in  a  continued  modified 
state  of  siege,  in  order  to  enable  the  authorities  to 
cope  witJjL  them  ? 

The  main  reasons  why  it  has  become  so  are — 
Firstly,  because  of  the  high  and  yet  politically  most 
defective  education  of  the  masses  ;  secondly,  because 
the  introduction  of  universal  suffrage  has  enabled 
them  to  make  their  opinions  felt.  (This  measure  has 
been  considered  a  grave  precipitancy  on  the  pnrt  of 
Bismarck  ;  but  neither  he  nor  anybody  else  could 
have  foreseen  that  within  ten  years  of  attaining 
national  unity,  a  million  of  voters  would  pin  their 
faith  to  a  party  to  which  the  idea  of  national  exist- 
ence ever  seems  a  secondary  consideration.)  Thirdly, 
because  of  the  very  character  of  the  masses  them- 
selves, who  are  less  influenced  by  military  glamour^ 
in  some  senses  more  sober  and  less  enthusiastically 
patriotic  than  elsewhere.  Hence  their  care  for  the 
supremacy  of  their  class  interests  is  less  interfered 
with  by  other  considerations.  This  is  distinctly 
proved  by  the  great  strides  the  movement  has  made 
amidst  victory  and  commercial  success.  Tart  of  the 
spread  of  Socialism  must  also  be  put  down  more  to 
the  gospel  of  hate  than  to  that  of  hope  ;  for,  although 
some  of  the  Socialist  leaders  are  men  of  undoubted 
high  principle  and  purity  of  motive,  yet  much  of  the 
envy  and  "  Schadenfreude  "—malicious  joy— peculiar 
to  Philistinism  have  gone  to  swell  the  number  of 
their  adherents.      We  talk  of  class  hatred ;  but  it  is 


298 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION. 


299 


:fi 


m 


Hi 


!;l 


Still,  bread  is  hardly  dearer  in  Germany  than  witli 
US,  and  certainly  it  is  far  purer.  It  is  unadulterated ! 
One  reason  why  derm  any  is  better  able  than  we  are 
to  bear  the  strain  of  a  protective  tariff  in  food 
stuffs  may  be,  that  small  peasant  proprietors  form 
comparatively  such  a  large  body  of  the  people. 

If  wages  are  generally  lower  than  with  us,  on 
the  othnr  hand  the  people  are  more  thrifty  ;  they 
make  their  money  go  farther,  particularly  their 
wives  do  ;  and  such  necessaries  as  beer  and  tobacco 
are  not  only  cheaper  than  in  England,  but  they 
are  unadulterated.  The  great  expansion  of  trade 
in  the  country  during  the  two  last  decades  lias 
circulated  vast  sums  of  money  among  the  working 
classes,  which  are  far  better  paid  than  a  genera- 
tion ago.  Tor  instance,  in  Munich  the  wages  of 
builders,  plasterers,  masons,  carpenters  and  others, 
have  for  some  time  been  as  high  as  ever  they  were 
with  us,  although  it  must  be  confessed  that  this  is 
an  exception.  Also  the  emigration  of  skilled  labour 
has  largely  decreased  of  late,  notwithstanding  the 
alleged  baneful  results  of  protection  to  trade.  The 
American  Nation  lately  significantly  noted  this 
fact,  and  attributed  it  to  the  marked  improvement 
in  the  laws  dealing  wiih  the  well-being  of  the  Ger- 
man labouring  classes. 

How  comes  it  then,  will  be  asked,  if  so  many 
things  are  satisfactory  in  Germany,  that  a  party 
such  as  the  Social  Democrats,  bent  on  the  subver- 
sion of  everything  existing,  has  so  many  followers 
that  it  has  been  able  to  send  over  twenty  of  its 
representatives  to  the  lieiclistag  ?     How   comes   it 


that  Germany  is  forced  to  use  such  repressive 
measures  against  the  Socialists,  that  towns  such  as 
Berlin,  Lei  p  sic,  Hamburg,  Stettin,  Prank  fort,  Offen- 
bach,  &c.,  are  proclaimed  in  a  continued  modified 
state  of  siege,  in  order  to  enable  the  authorities  to 
cope  witli  them  ? 

The  main  reasons  why  it  has  become  so  are — 
firstly,  because  of  the  high  and  yet  politically  most 
defective  education  of  the  masses  ;  secondly,  because 
the  introduction  of  universal  suffrage  has  enabled 
them  to  make  their  oi)inions  felt.  (This  measure  has 
been  considered  a  grave  precipitancy  on  the  part  of 
Eismarck  ;  but  neither  he  nor  anybody  else  could 
have  foreseen  that  within  ten  years  of  attaining 
national  unity,  a  million  of  voters  would  pin  their 
faith  to  a  party  to  which  the  idea  of  national  exist- 
ence ever  seems  a  secondary  consideration.)  Thirdly, 
because  of  the  very  character  of  the  masses  them- 
selves, who  are  less  influenced  by  military  glamour, 
in  some  senses  more  sober  and  less  enthusiastically 
patriotic  than  elsewhere.  Hence  their  care  for  the 
supremacy  of  their  class  interests  is  less  interfered 
with  by  other  considerations.  This  is  distinctly 
proved  by  the  great  strides  the  movement  has  made 
amidst  victory  and  commercial  success.  Tart  of  the 
spread  of  Socialism  must  also  be  put  down  more  to 
the  gospel  of  hate  than  to  that  of  hope  ;  for,  although 
some  of  the  Socialist  leaders  are  men  of  undoubted 
high  principle  and  purity  of  motive,  yet  much  of  the 
envy  and  "  Schadenfreude  " — malicious  joy— peculiar 
to  Philistinism  have  gone  to  swell  the  number  of 
their  adherents.      We  talk  of  class  hatred ;  but  it  is 


f 


300 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION. 


301 


I 


in  Germany  that  true  class  hatred  exists.  No  un- 
•covering  before  a  lord  among  German  Socialists  ;  but 
stoning  him,  if  there  is  a  chance.  Let  those  who 
doubt  tliis  recall  the  murders  of  Prince  Lichnowski 
and  General  Auerswald  in  Frank fort-on-the-Main, 
in  1849.  The  above  facts  show  tlie  danger  of  the 
movement,  and  it  finds  nurture  in  a  weak  spot  in 
the  national  character.  Divested  of  all  theory,  it 
means  the  antagonism  between  capital  and  labour, 
common  to  all  countries,  but  with  the  (Jermans  it 
means  more. 

With  us  the  trades  unions,  which  had  their  origin 
in  the  unspeakable  social  misery  of  the  working 
classes,  have  acted  as  valves  carrying  off  superfluous 
steam.  Such  have  been  prevented  in  Germany, 
and  as  life  is  of  a  less  depressing  character  to  the 
working  man,  secret  combinations  of  this  kind  have 
been  less  resorted  to.  Socialism  has  more  of  an  ab- 
stract or  philosophic  basis,  tlian  the  narrower  aims  of 
our  trades-unions.  As  a  high  Prussian  legal  authority 
put  it  to  us  a  little  thne  ago,  we  educate  the  masses 
to  look  upon  the  will  of  the  majority  as  law.  What 
■can  we  say,  when  the  time  comes  for  them  to  turn 
round,  and,  using  our  own  arguments,  to  aver  that 
they  being  in  a  majority  their  will  is  law.  This  is 
the  problem  the  statesmen  of  the  future  will  have 
to  face.  Xot  the  dearth  or  plenty  of  wages  will 
influence  its  course.  We  And  the  Knights  of  Labour 
in  America,  where  wages  are  higli  and  employ- 
ment plentiful.  It  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  in- 
-creased  flerceness  of  the  struggle  for  existence  of  our 
time. 


Whereas  in  Austria  active  brains  have  still  an 
easy  victory  over  laziness  and  stupidity,  in  Germany 
— particularly  in  the  North — intelligence  is  grap- 
pling with  intelligence  in  the  fierce  struggle  for 
existence,  and  breeds  Socialism  in  all  the  great 
centres  erf  commerce  and  manufacture. 

As  it  fell  to  the  French  in  the  last  century  to 
deal  with  feudal  aristocracy,  so  it  will  probably  fall 
to  the  lot  of  Germany  to  grapple  with  the  problem 
of  this  century  first.  Not  because  the  conditions  of 
its  labouring  classes  are  the  most  onerous — far  from 
it;  but  for  the  reasons  given  above,  which  place 
them  in  the  front  rank  in  clamouring  for  recognition. 

The  late  Emperor  William,  in  his  message  of 
February  1881,  to  the  working  classes,  has  recog- 
nized their  right  to  be  considered  by  the  State,  and 
the  subsequent  laws  in  favour  of  insurance  in  case 
of  sickness,  in  case  of  accident,  and,  lastly,  for  pro- 
vision for  old  age,  have  since  emphasized  his  words. 
How  far  these  measures  will  answer,  the  future  alone 
can  show.  Those  who  prophesy  a  black  future  for 
the  country  from  Socialism,  may  be  right,  but  they 
would  be  strangely  short-sighted  if  they  surmised 
that  these  social  problems  will  only  have  to  be 
solved  in  Germany.  They  will  come  to  the  fore  in 
all  other  countries,  and  it  is  very  questionable  whether 
they  will  find  other  countries  more  prepared  to  meet 
the  shock.  For  in  Germany  there  exists  a  counter- 
weight in  the  fact  of  the  land  being  largely  in 
possession  of  the  people,  which  will  tell  its  tale  in 
favour  of  compromise  ;  whereas  those  countries  will 
feel  the  inevitable  upheaval  of  the  masses  most  in 


302 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY, 


which   the   people   are   most   dissatisfied  with   the 
social  and  economical  conditions  of  their  existence. 

If  democracy  comes  to  rule,  some  of  the  meaner 
instincts  of  the  race  will  come  into  dangerous 
prominence.  Envy,  hatred,  malice,  and  all  unchari- 
tableness  will  find  fuller  scope  than  ever.  The 
words  of  the  wise  will  be  unheeded  amidst  the 
angry  passions  of  the  hour ;  for  before  its  advent — 
if  inevitable — it  is  most  unlikely  that  the  leading 
minds  will  be  able  to  cast  the  institutions  of  the 
-country  in  an  iron  frame,  capable  of  resisting  each 
fresh  assault  upon  it,  as  the  Constitution  of  America 
has  proved  itself  able  to  do. 

Tiie  French  still  possess  the  qualities  that  made 
them  ever  a  united  people  against  the  foreigner; 
the  English  have  only  to  be  hard  pressed  to  verify 
the  eulogies  some  of  the  best  and  most  genial  Ger- 
mans have  passed  on  them  as  a  nation ;  but  we 
firmly  believe  the  Germans  have  only  to  lose  the 
initiative  of  Prussia  to  verify  again  the  truths  that 
have  been  stated  in  the  past  respecting  their  poli- 
tical character  as  a  nation,  and  sink  back  into  the 
gelatinous  mass  they  rose  from. 


IV. 

The  short  reign  of  Frederick  III.  and  its  sequels 
^lave  thrown  a  lurid  light  on  the  bitter  party  divi- 
sions of  tlie  country.  Of  the  Socialists  we  have 
spoken.  The  ultra-Liberals  are  only  in  a  degree 
less  opposed  to  every  measure  on  which  authority 
rests  in  Prussia.  The  Eoman  Catholics  have  proved 
ithat  they  recognize  an  allegiance  beyond  the  Alps, 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION, 


303 


above  the  loyalty  to  the  Sovereign — yes,  even 
perhaps  above  national  interests.  The  Conservatives, 
although  possessing  many  lofty  characters  in  their 
ranks,  are  as  a  party  too  selfish,  narrow-minded,  and 
weak  ever  to  be  able  to  wield  decisive  I*arliamentarv 
influence.  The  intellectual  backbone  of  the  country 
is  perhaps  to  be  found  in  the  National-Liberal  party, 
though,  in  its  turn,  it  is  anything  but  a  homo- 
geneous body.  As  favouritism,  jobbery,  and  the 
influence  of  wealth  have  affected  the  efficiency  of 
our  Whigs  and  Tories,  so  impractical  doctrinairism  is 
the  plague-spot  of  the  Xational-Liberal  and  Liberal 
parties.  The  conscientious  politician-professor  is 
the  bugbear  of  German  politics,  and  his  enthusiastic 
admiration  of  English  institutions,  not  the  least 
suspicious  element  of  his  creed ;  it  is  invariably 
derived  from  book-knowledge,  or  from  a  very  short 
stay  in  England. 

These  irreconcilable  parties  and  the  very 
character  of  the  German  people,  of  which  they  are 
typical,  do  not  hold  out  a  guarantee  that  Parliamen- 
tarianism,  particularly  that  of  a  single  all-powerful 
Chamber,  is  suited  to  the  character  or  requirements 
of  the  nation.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  seed- 
ground  of  peril  for  the  future.  In  its  bosom  are  the 
future  allies  of  the  Socialists — the  Catholics.  The 
danger  that  lies  in  a  possible  social  propaganda  of  the 
Catholics  can  be  surmised  when  we  look  at  Ireland. 
It  is  a  Democratic,  almost  Socialistic,  movement. 

The  Catholic  Congress  at  Freiburg  in  Sept.  '88 
distinctly  pointed  in  the  direction  of  Catholic  partici- 
pation in  projects  of  social  reform — the  care  for  the 


304 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION. 


305 


masses.  It  is  only  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  the 
power  of  the  Catholic  party  in  the  country  and  in 
the  lieichstag  to  feel  that,  once  it  joins  hands  with 
the  Democratic  faction,  it  will  be  a  hot  time  for  the 
moderate  Liberals  representing  the  resisting  bulk  of 
the  middle  classes.  On  these  lines  there  is  un- 
doubtedly a  powerful  opening  for  the  Catholic  party. 
For,  if  it  is  strong  in  itself,  it  is  even  stronger  by 
the  hopeless  divisions  of  its  political  opponents.  A 
party  that  presents  a  united  parliamentary  phalanx 
literally,  in  the  words  of  Lord  Tennyson,  stands — 

*'  Four  square  to  every  wind  that  blows  " — 

even  when  the  object  of  its  policy  is  almost  anti- 
national  ;  it  may  well  bid  its  enemies  beware,  if  once 
its  policy  should  be  such  as  to  attract  the  sympathies 
of  large  classes  of  the  population. 

In  view  of  this  state  of  tilings,  it  is  fortunate 
that  a  strong  central  authority  is  a  living  reality, 
at  least  for  the  present.  It  is  a  healthy  point  in 
legal  ethics,  that  offences  can  be  punished  in  pro- 
portion to  the  harm  they  might  inflict  on  the  com- 
munity, and  not  by  sentimental  standards,  llc^ 
^uUica  suprema  lex,  still  holds  good,  whether  for  a 
rebellious  diplomatist  or  a  restless  professor.  It  is 
necessary  to  bear  this  in  mind  in  a  time  that  has 
come  to  find  excuses  and  defenders  for  almost  any 
action,  however  pernicious.  When  Germany  is 
more  consolidated,  she  can  perhaps  allow  herself 
the  luxury  of  sentiment  in  politics,  but  that  time 
lias  not  come. 

The  recent  endeavour  to  lessen  the  services   of 


Bismarck,  by  seeking  to  increase  the  credit  of 
others,  has,  like  previous  attempts,  signally  failed. 
Surely  his  reputation  has  no  need  of  borrowed 
plumes.  But  public  opinion,  as  usual,  like  the 
peasant  wdio  wanted  to  look  inside  the  fowl  that 
laid  the  golden  egg,  has  always  wanted  to  know 
exactly  whence  everything  originated.  It  can  never 
be  believed  that  the  late  Emperor  Frederick  wished 
the  world  should  know,  by  his  Diary,  that  he  had 
been  far  more  in  the  work  of  unity  than  liad 
hitlierto  been  acknowledged.  This  would  be  in 
too  strikino-  contrast  with  the  conduct  of  his  great 
father. 

People  already  ask  themselves  what  will  become 
oi  the  country  and  these  elements  of  discord  when 
Bismarck  passes  away.  Why  has  he  trained  no 
.successors  ?  But  surely  neither  Pitt,  Canning,  nor 
AVellington  left  any  successors  either.  The  State 
is  like  a  ship  that  has  been  guided  through  shoals, 
Bismarck  at  least  leaves  it  with  a  model  working 
system.  If  he  has  somewhat  lavishly  used  up  tlnj 
^administrative  capacity  of  the  country,  in  one  par- 
ticular, the  working  material  of  the  nation  stands 
untarnished,  supreme — the  army.  Amidst  all  the 
bitterness  of  political  discussion,  its  chief,  Field- 
Marshal  von  Moltke,  passes  like  a  classic  shadow  of 
antiquity  from  the  scene  of  activity,  after  himself 
a))puinting  his  successor.  Tiuis  around  the  army 
all  those  who  are  intent  on  retaining  the  means 
of  developing  everything  that  is  to  be  valued  in  a 
nation  must  group  themselves.  The  time  may 
come  when  all  this  may  be  sufficiently  safeguarded 

X 


3o6 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION. 


307 


by  the  free  expression  of  public  opinion,  but  that 
-time  has  not  yet  come. 

In  the  meantime  the  temper  of  the  nation  makes 
it  very  unlikely  it  will  embark  in  Quixotic  adven- 
tures, such  as  the  French,  by  their  constitutional 
periodical  "  debordements  de  sang,"  have  indulged 
in  and  suffered  from. 

Y. 

Our  attention  to  what  is  going  on  in  Germany 
has  increased  so  much  of  late,  that  it  must  interest 
us  to  glance  at  the  feelings  of  Germany  in  general 
towards  England  and  the  English.  [NTow,  although 
everj^thing  English  has  ever  been  looked  up  to  hi 
Germany,  and  the  more  so  by  the  higher  intellec- 
tual men  who  have  studied  us,  of  late  there  has 
grown  a  distinctive  political  dislike  for  us.  It 
began  in  our  attitude  towards  Germany  during  the 
'70  war :  it  lias  increased  since,  through  a  variety 
of  causes.  Perhaps  the  greatest  of  these  is  to  be 
sought  in  the  fact  that  the  two  nations  are  passing 
through  such  different  cycles  of  public  feeling  and 
development  as  almost  to  preclude  a  mutual  under- 
standing. We  have  been  lately  suffering  from  some 
of  the  disadvantages  of  our  system,  whereas  the 
(Jermans  have  only  just  reaped  the  advantages  of 
heir  own ;  even  their  recent  progress  can  but  be 
coked  upon  as  exceptional;  bearing  the  part  in 
mind,  the  drawbacks  remain  to  be  seen. 

The  Germans  have  only  just  fought  for  their 
national  existence,  and  are  still  in  that  primitive 
frame  of  mind  that  calls  a  spade   a  spade,  whereas 


we  have  long  arrived  at  that  stage  of  culture,  that 
often  makes  us  loth  to  look  significant  facts  and 
their  consequences  in  the  face.  This  difference  of 
circumstance  and  feeling  must  increase  the  diffi- 
culty of  understanding  each  other's  aims  ;  but  it 
need  not  lessen  mutual  respect,  no  more  than  it 
need  prevent  our  profiting  by  any  lessons  the  study 
of  the  country  must  convey.  Besides  the  points 
already  referred  to,  we  may  learn  from  it  that  the 
possibilities  of  a  great  race  are  not  unfailingly  in- 
dicated by  its  rush  towards  democracy  and  by  its 
yearly  balance  of  profit  and  loss,  but  also  by  the 
great  men  it  produces. 

In  every  case  the  days  are  past  when  worn- 
out  methods,  blundering  incapacity,  or  defective 
organization  can  be  atoned  for  by  the  self-sacrifice 
of  an  heroic  race.  The  battle  of  life  with  nations, 
as  with  individuals,  has  become  more  and  more 
severe  and  fierce.  The  fanaticism  of  blind  pa- 
triotism or  belief  can  no  longer  be  reckoned  on  as 
adequate  to  right  a  ship  unskilfully  steered  in  dan- 
gerous shoals.  Everything  points  to  the  serious, 
ever  irretrievable,  results  of  want  of  preparation  of 
a  nation  to  meet  the  responsibilities  of  its  position. 

Erom  a  study  of  the  (Jerman  model  administra- 
tion we  may  learn  not  to  ask  whether  our  navy  or 
army  be  rotten,  but  who  are  the  men  we  ought 
to  hang  for  such  being  the  case.  The  higher  the 
position  the  greater  the  crime  and  its  punishment. 

A  study  of  the  points  Bismarck  has  scored  off  us 
in  foreign  policy  ought  to  enable  us  to  learn  liov/  to 
meet    him    on    his   own   ground,  when   our  legiti- 


3c8 


IMPERIAL  GERMANY. 


mate  interests  are  trenched  upon,  and  open  our  eyes 
to  the  fact  that  our  present  party  government 
renders  it  difficult  for  us  to  do  so. 

Perhaps  the  most  useful  lesson  the  study  of  Ger- 
many teaches  us  to-day  is,  that  laissez  /aire  as  a 
system  of  social  and  political  advancement — be- 
tween an  aristocracy  of  the  past  and  '^  '^^.uiocracy 
of  the  future  playing  at  cross  purposes — is  no 
longer  the  only  shibboleth  to  swear  by.  A  few 
additional  watchwords  can  hardly  fail  to  be  sug- 
<5ested  by  an  impartial  study  of  Germany  of  to-day. 


PRINTED  BY  BAI.KANTVNK,  HANSON  AND  CO. 
LONDON   AND   EDINBt'RGii 


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